Twins Are...

Not long after Tang Tian's meeting with Stevens ended, another familiar face came to Stevens' home.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge.

Contract extensions for management and coaches were essentially the same as player extensions.

Both sides negotiated, made concessions, and ultimately reached a contract that satisfied them both.

D'Antoni and the Pelicans had gone through the same process, except the deal had fallen through at the final step.

That also served as a warning to Ainge. When his informants told him Tang Tian had also visited Stevens, he could no longer sit still.

Although Stevens' overall record during his two years coaching the Celtics had been mediocre, the team's spirit had been quite good.

In other words, even while the team was tanking, the fans still had faith in it. A coach capable of that was anything but ordinary.

More importantly, there was no better option than Stevens on the market.

He was not a general manager who particularly liked to talk about personal feelings, but he cared about interests. Team interests dictated that he had to do everything he could to keep Stevens.

"We can offer a bigger, longer contract than the Pelicans. Stay."

Ainge's attitude was completely different from the previous negotiations.

"It's too late. I've already agreed to join the Pelicans."

This time, however, Stevens answered decisively.

He had already given the Celtics and Ainge more than enough time. In fact, the salary he had asked for was less than a million more than his original pay.

But Ainge had kept trying to persuade him with all kinds of reasons: the team was rebuilding, he was still young, and so on.

There was no point in Ainge changing his tune now. He had already promised Tang Tian, and he was a man of his word.

"That was