With the Boston Celtics surpassing expectations in the playoffs, head coach Brad Stevens has lately been receiving praises as though he was the second coming of Red Auerbach. Former Celtics big man Robert Parish, however, is not one to jump fully into the Stevens bandwagon. During an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Monday, The Chief suggested that people should pump their brakes a little bit when heaping praises at Brad Stevens.

By way of Dakota Randall of NESN.com.

“I think he’s getting a little too much praise, but I like what he’s doing,” Parish said. “They’re giving him all the love like he’s won three or four championships. Come on now, win something first. ” … Granted, don’t get me wrong, he’s a solid coach. I give him that. But with the love he’s getting from the media, you’d think the Celtics have won two or three championships. You would think.”

Robert Parish won three of his four NBA rings with the Celtics during the 1980s (the other one was with the Chicago Bulls in 1997), so his opinion carries some weight.

At the very least, Stevens is doing an admirable job of guiding the Celtics in these playoffs, steering the team to its second conference finals series in a row despite not having the services of star point guard Kyrie Irving. That said, it’s not like Boston is made up of scrubs either with Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Morris all above-average players.

As it seems, Stevens is becoming a polarizing figure within the NBA circle.