Red Sox Spring Training: Celtics coach Brad Stevens visits camp

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora explains how he’s learned from the coaches of other Boston-area teams, including Celtics coach Brad Stevens.

The Boston Red Sox had a surprise visitor in camp this weekend as Brad Stevens made an appearance at Jet Blue Park. The coach of the Boston Celtics had some free time during the NBA All-Star break and took advantage of the opportunity to pick the brain of Alex Cora as spring training gets underway.

These last few months have been an unbelievable run for Boston sports teams. Cora led the Red Sox to their fourth World Series title in the last 15 years, Bill Belichick followed with his sixth Super Bowl victory at the helm of the New England Patriots, and now Stevens’ Celtics are competing for the opportunity to hang their NBA-record 18th banner.

While they come from different sports, these men have great respect for each other and can find parallels between their roles to relate to. They’re familiar with the pressure to win in this city and sharing their experiences can be mutually beneficial.

"“I think you get so much more out of talking to people who are in the same line of work but a different spot because I think you’re all dealing with the same things on a day to day basis, the challenges of team, the challenge of being the best that you can be,” Stevens said, per Boston.com. “These guys are amazing at it. You could sense it last year when we were here that it was just a unique feel and had a special vibe about it, and it feels the same this year.”"

As much as Stevens came to Fort Myers to seek advice from a World Series-winning manager, Cora has learned a lot from the Celtics coach as well.

"“Brad, he’s actually younger than I am by a year. Just to see what he’s done throughout the years — rebuilding and now with the expectations — there’s no up and down with him,” Cora told reporters, per NESN. “He’s very consistent with the way he preaches the game and the way he deals with the media.”"

Dealing with the media is an aspect of the job Cora is still acclimating to after his first year as a manager. He joked that he’s not on Belichick’s level yet. Cora can’t get away with stonewalling the media but he clearly admires how the Patriots coach is unfazed by the outside pressure. Stevens has a very different approach with the media but he can relate to the experience of that first year coaching in Boston despite the vastly different starts each of them had to their tenure in this city.

Stevens came to Boston following the departure of Doc Rivers and a blockbuster trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn. The core of the 2008 championship was gone and a painful rebuild appeared to be in store as the Celtics plummeted deep out of the playoff race.

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It didn’t take Stevens long to turn things around, guiding the Celtics to a surprise playoff spot in his second year. Stevens proved to be a master strategist and developed a reputation for squeezing every ounce of potential from his players. The team gradually improved each year while adding star free agents Al Horford and Gordon Hayward along the way, then trading for superstar point guard Kyrie Irving. The veteran core has been supplemented by young talented courtesy of the franchise-altering deal with the Nets that allowed them to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

The Celtics are now a powerhouse firmly in the race for a top-heavy Eastern Conference. Stevens helped the Celtics grow from a team fighting for lottery ping-pong balls to one battling for a championship.

That path is in sharp contrast to Cora’s. The Red Sox manager took over a team loaded with talent, which came with sky-high expectations out of the gate. His predecessor was able to get this team to consecutive postseason appearances but it was Cora who was tasked with getting them over the hump. He was up for the challenge, winning a franchise record 108 games and a championship as a rookie manager.

Perhaps some of that championship vibe will rub off on Stevens. He may learn something from his peer that he can use to take the Celtics to the next level. In that case, we may be in store for our third duck boat parade in Boston in the span of about eight months.