Brian Scalabrine explains why he thinks Kara Lawson is the most qualified to be the Celtics new head coach.
The Boston Celtics' offseason already is an eventful one as it was announced Wednesday that Brad Stevens will replace Danny Ainge as the team's president of basketball operations.
Stevens' first order of business after his promotion will be finding his replacement. A number of possible hires have been already been reported -- including Jason Kidd and Lloyd Pierce -- but Brian Scalabrine has another worthy candidate in mind.
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"I think they're going to hire Kara Lawson," Scalabrine said Wednesday on NBC Sports Boston. "I know the organization thinks she's unbelievable. I know the players respect her. When she went down to Duke to coach the women's team there -- I mean, I'm just putting A + B = C to me. I think they hire Kara Lawson. ...
"She's insanely good as a coach," he added. "It's not one of those things where 'she's good for a female.' No, she walked into practice and she commanded practice right from the jump. She was giving people tips and people's jaws were dropping. She's elite at what she does. ... I thought she was head coaching material within five minutes talking with her."
Lawson, a former WNBA champion and All-Star, served as an assistant for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season. She was hired as head coach of the Duke women's basketball team last summer but only coached four games before the season was cancelled over COVID-19 concerns.
"Kara is always known for putting a smile on players' faces," Celtics center Robert Williams said after Lawson joined Duke. "She stays in your ear, even though she may not be your personal coach she always keeps asking how I'm doing and if there's anything I need to talk about, so I feel like Duke is going to get a great head coach. We're going to miss her. We don't want her to go, but it's on to bigger and better opportunities."
Boston Celtics
It's clear the Celtics organization holds Lawson in high regard. Perhaps she won't have to leave Boston for her "bigger and better opportunity" after all.
