Brad Stevens says fear and intimidation are not good motivational tools

When the Boston Celtics lost head coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers last summer, there was plenty of debate about who the team’s next head coach would be. But the man who eventually got the job was not on anybody’s radar.

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The Celtics poached Brad Stevens from the college ranks–where he had lead Butler to many successful seasons–and gave him a big six-year, $22 million deal.

Although the Celtics struggled in Stevens’ first year in charge, no one is blaming the young head coach. This was always going to be a rebuilding year with the departures of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and the injury to Rajon Rondo.

It’s part of the reason why the Celtics gave Stevens such a long deal–they know this is going to be a difficult process, and they ensure him that they have his back as the team rebuilds.

As Stevens prepares for his first draft, he took some time to answer some questions for Men’s Fitness about basketball and coaching.

One of his most interesting answers came when he was asked about fear and intimidating being used as motivational tactics. Check out what he had to say in response.

"So, are fear and intimidation motivators?Not in the long run. I believe you’re either intrinsically motivated or you’re not."

Watch Stevens on the sideline and you can certainly see he lives out this philosophy. Even when he’s upset about something, he rarely yells or screams at players. He stays calm, cool and collected even in crunch time.