For the second time this week, the Celtics have hired a former player and Duke alum as an assistant coach–Amile Jefferson. The 30-year-old Jefferson will get his first taste of coaching in the NBA next season under head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Celtics Bring in Amile Jefferson as New Assistant Coach
Playing Career
Jefferson went to college at Duke from 2012-2017 and helped them win the NCAA Championship in 2015. He was also teammates with Jayson Tatum during the 2016-2017 season. In 2017, Jefferson signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves but would only play for the Iowa Wolves, their G League team. Jefferson was named to the All-NBA G League All-Rookie First Team, All-NBA G League All-Defensive First Team, and All-NBA G League Second Team during the 2017-2018 season.
This performance was good enough for Jefferson to sign a two-way contract with the Orlando Magic. Jefferson played for the Magic on the two-way contract up until February 2020 when he was waived. During his time in Orlando, Jefferson played just 30 games and averaged 4.7 minutes per game over two seasons.
In December 2020, Jefferson signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Boston Celtics but never played a game for them and was released two weeks later. Jefferson never signed with an NBA team after getting released.
Coaching Career
Jefferson’s coaching career has been very short up to this point. In July 2021, Jefferson returned to his alma mater as Director of Player Development for the Duke Blue Devils. Jefferson became an assistant coach in April 2022, a position he held until getting hired by the Celtics.
Conclusion
This is not the first move Brad Stevens has made to bolster the coaching staff underneath Mazzulla. Over the last month, Stevens has hired Sam Cassell and Phil Pressey, two former Celtics guards, and Charles Lee to be assistant coaches for the team. Although Jefferson never officially played for the Celtics, he was briefly with the team in 2020, so there will be some familiarity between Amile Jefferson and much of the roster, especially his close friend and ex-Duke teammate Tatum.
