As a life long Celtic fan, I have seen the spirit of the Celtics team bring winning out of less physical talent. The Celtics welcome every player as a member of the family. I read how Red Auerbach even in his later years would go out to lunch with players like Delonte West and try to encourage them. The Celtics don't say bad things about any of their players in the newspapers. I also remember a TV interview with Bill Russell. Russell asked, "How did I win championships over Wilt Chamberlain? Wilt was 4 inches taller than me, Wilt could run faster than me, Wilt could jump higher than me, Wilt had 50 pounds on me, How could we beat his team?" Then Russell pointed to his head. "This is what I used to win championships over Wilt" Certainly Russell, and Bird, and Havlicek, and all the stars had great physical talent, but they all made their teammates better, all were smart, and all had their own people skills and competitive fire.
Brad Stevens is great for carrying on the tradition. When asked even at the draft combine how he approaches interviews, he said he tries to just say one good thing about each prospect: though not tipping off what the team is really interested in. Stevens doesn't get into questions like should Isiah Thomas start or come off the bench. Everything is about team and wining.