Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the second time in three years, adding another league honor to the work that kept Boston competitive through a season many expected to be lost. He won the award in 2024 as well, and the league said Tuesday that general managers again put him at the top of the ballot.
Stevens received 11 of 28 possible first-place votes and finished with 69 points, outpacing Onsi Saleh, who drew 17 total ballots and finished with 41 points. Trajan Langdon got six first-place votes and 40 points, Jeff Peterson received five first-place votes and 37 points, Sam Presti earned three first-place votes and 25 points, and Brian Wright took the remaining two first-place votes.
The honor reflects how sharply Stevens reworked Boston’s roster after Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles tear in the 2025 playoffs. Last offseason, Stevens traded Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, then let Luke Kornet and Al Horford leave in free agency. At the trade deadline, he made another series of financially motivated moves to get Boston’s team salary below the luxury tax line, all while the Celtics remained competitive behind Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard and won 56 regular-season games.
The Celtics had been widely expected to treat the 2025/26 season as a gap year because they were determined to shed salary after operating above the second tax apron. Instead, Stevens kept the club in the mix while steering it through a reset that was driven as much by the cap sheet as by the standings. The award is voted on by the league’s general managers, not media members, and Stevens is now the 12th individual to win it more than once.
That standing makes his job less about proving he can win an award and more about showing what Boston’s next move looks like after one of the most aggressive roster and payroll trims in the league. He has already denied North Carolina interest and said he is staying with the Celtics, leaving the franchise to build the next phase around the decisions he has already made.
