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The Boston Celtics introduced their new star core on Friday, with Kyrie Irving surreally taking his place next to Gordon Hayward on the dais. The presser was filled with the usual pomp and circumstance and polite commentary. Danny Ainge refused to answer questions about the process of acquiring Irving and the holdup over Isaiah Thomas' hip. Irving called the Celtics an "illustrious" organization (about four times), while Hayward said the difference in Boston's fans was how intelligent they are. (One more for the road, Jazz fans. )

Irving commented on his relationship with LeBron James, briefly, saying he hadn't spoken to his superstar former teammate, but that a bond of brotherhood would always be there (despite Irving specifically asking to end their partnership). 

But lost in the bigger headlines and the "wow" moment of this new "super-team" was a subtle indication of where the Celtics have transitioned to. 

Stevens was one of the first people Irving mentioned when saying why he was so excited to join Boston. 

"The people that are here at this organization, the people that they have, Coach Stevens, I think I've kind of scratched the surface of what I can become," Hayward said. "And I think being here with the city and the fans, it's really exciting to be here."

Brad Stevens came into the league with unprecedented standing credit for a college coach who had never spent a day in the NBA. Almost immediately, there was a growing sense of his being something special in a profession in which coaches are often an afterthought. Other coaches credited him. Players made mention of what he brought. The team immediately began to outperform expectations. 

Some of the credit came as the cart before the horse. He never won a playoff series until just this past season, getting swept by the Cavaliers in 2015 and bounced by the Hawks in 2016. Even this year, the Celtics went down 2-0 to start the first round against Chicago and were dragged to seven games vs. Washington, and then were smacked into oblivion by the Cavaliers. Still, the feeling league-wide is that the Celtics overachieved last season because of Stevens, his system and his approach. 

In 2016, when Al Horford became the Celtics' first major free-agency signing in decades, Stevens was discussed as a selling point, but there were a lot of factors. With Hayward, however, it's clear from both his comments in the press conference Friday and his Players' Tribune announcement in July that Stevens played a heavy role in his decision. 

It was such a tough decision. But there was one person who I knew I could talk to about it from every angle, who I knew would give me the smartest and most honest perspective available: Coach Stevens.

Coach Stevens was so great about it, all of it. He helped me lay out my options, and talked it through from both sides … but in the end, when I needed it, he also gave me my space. And he also let me know that it was my choice to make — and that he would be there for me, on the other side of it, either way. And of course I ended up deciding to leave: I declared for the draft, and got drafted, and started my new NBA life in Utah. But it always meant a lot to me, to know how, in that moment, even with our lives at this strange crossroads together, Coach Stevens was someone I could count on.

via Thank You, Utah | By Gordon Hayward. 

In many ways, if you want to look at the star power on the Celtics, you have to include Stevens. Stevens was used as a selling point to recruit Hayward and Horford, and to get assurances from Irving's camp he would be open to re-signing with Boston in two years. 

Stevens' system preaches ball movement and flexibility, two things that Irving hasn't excelled at in Cleveland. That's part of what makes this such a grand experiment. The Celtics' hypothesis is that Irving has potential was not unlocked in his time in Cleveland. Tyronn Lue won a title, but few are calling him a genius. The same goes for Irving's other former coaches in Mike Brown, Byron Scott and David Blatt. But Stevens is often labeled that way. 

Quantifying Stevens' impact is difficult, near impossible. The Celtics' defense was tremendous in 2016, and then regressed in a major way in 2017. His offense was mediocre at best in 2016, and was among the top five last season. There are little signs, like how much the ball moves, or the fact that the Celtics ranked second and third last season in side-out-of-bounds and after-time-out offense per possession.

The bigger key might be how Stevens not only makes his teams better, but never, ever takes credit for it. A lot of coaches could have fallen into the trap of making too much of their own impacts. But Stevens has been tight with his one-on-one interviews, has shunned most profiles and redirects credit to his players at every turn. That's what every NBA player wants: a coach that gets the most out of them while never taking the credit away. They also want a coach who empowers and frees them to be the best players they can be.

With Hayward, that will be a cinch. He's coachable and flexible, can work on and off the ball. He has a standing relationship with Stevens. Horford, too, won't present any issues, and is always willing to adapt to what's asked. Irving is a different matter. Irving has strong opinions, on a lot of things, but particularly his game, and he often elects to pursue his own instincts rather than schemed play. How that plays out in Boston will be key to their success.

More than anything, a pattern is taking shape. The Celtics haven't had the ability to pursue really big player acquisitions through the years. They have found a strong recruiting weapon that makes them a magnet for smart players that want to win. The Celtics have traded three of their five starters from a team that reached the conference finals, and if this experiment goes awry, Danny Ainge won't hesitate to keep searching for upgrades.

It doesn't matter that Stevens has only won two playoff series in his young career: It's clear to everyone that the Celtics' biggest superstar might be the one on the sideline.