The Boston Celtics and superstar point guard Kyrie Irving were able to overcome a lot of adversity due to injuries during the 2017-18 NBA season, especially when Irving had to miss the entire postseason with a knee injury.

The leadership of Celtics head coach Brad Stevens undoubtedly had a lot to do with it, as Boston refused to quit and took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a decisive Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals before being eliminated from the playoffs.

Over the weekend on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Irving was a guest and had a lot of praise for Stevens and his exceptional ability with developing players and making adjustments.

“Brad is one of the most adaptable coaches that I've ever been around,” Irving said of coach Stevens. “He's just highly intelligent about the game and about life. Talking to him is always awesome. I just had dinner with him the other night with his wife and his kids.”

Irving also said that Stevens continuously showed what an amazing basketball mind he had throughout the season and was masterful at making in-game adjustments.

“Talking basketball with him, it's just such a relief to have a basketball mind like that and an appreciation of the game,” Irving added. “He doesn't forget plays, knows when the shift in the game happens. We were going over things that could of been done differently this season, it was a breath of fresh air talking to him.”

When taken out of context, it may sound like Irving is taking a shot at his previous coaches with the Cavs in Byron Scott, Mike Brown, David Blatt, and current head coach Tyronn Lue.

However, that really doesn't seem to be the case here because the “he doesn't forget plays” comment Irving made is much more of Stevens' exceptional ability to remember plays off the top of his head from games months ago and immediately be able to insert them into a similar situation in the present.