The victory itself was not especially significant, but it had just become official that Celtics coach Brad Stevens would guide the Eastern Conference All-Star team. And Stevens gets to bring all of his assistants, too.

DALLAS — After the Celtics defeated the Lakers on Feb. 3, assistant coach Jay Larranaga quietly walked around the locker room, stopping to shake each player’s hand and say thank you.

So for the Celtics’ staff, which is a mix of retired players, former college coaches, and rising prospects, the opportunity to have a turn — however small — on the league’s grandest stage is reason enough to give thanks.


“Having grown up watching the Slam Dunk Contest, watching Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan for me, and now in the last few years watching that with my kids, and now to be a part of it, that’s special,” Larranaga said.

Two years ago, Larranaga and Celtics assistant Micah Shrewsberry brought their sons to the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden together. The Celtics were just 20-31, and the thought of someday coaching in the event seemed like a pipe dream. A week later, Boston would acquire the brilliant young point guard Isaiah Thomas, unaware of how he would help reshape the franchise so suddenly.

This week, of course, Thomas will be in New Orleans with his coaches; he was selected as an Eastern Conference reserve for the second consecutive year.

“It’s great for those guys,” Thomas said of the Celtics’ staff, “because they don’t get the credit they deserve, so now they’re going to get it.”

Thomas joked that he should get a starting nod now that his coaches are in control. That is not allowed, of course, but perhaps he will have some influence regarding playing time. Shrewsberry said that Thomas’s value to the Celtics might actually have the reverse effect in New Orleans.


“Brad will probably put him in a bubble,” he said, smiling. “We play Toronto right after the All-Star Game, so we’ll probably play [Kyle] Lowry and [DeMar] DeRozan all 48 minutes.”

The Celtics’ staff had very little discussion about coaching in the All-Star Game as this season progressed. They were in the mix because coaches cannot go in back-to-back years, making Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue ineligible. Still, for much of the season Boston was chasing the second-place Raptors. So several staffers made other All-Star break plans.

Jamie Young was scheduled to be honored at his alma mater, Logansport (Ind.) High School. (And his wedding anniversary is next weekend.) Video coordinator Alex Barlow had made plans to see his family in Cincinnati, because the Celtics’ Christmas game had kept him from being home for the holidays. Shrewsberry was looking forward to attending his children’s basketball games. But they were all looking forward to this rare and high-profile alternative.

“If they need me to rebound for three days, I’ll do it,” Barlow said. “I’m up for anything. I’m just happy to be there.”

“It’s definitely cool to be able to go and be with all the best players in the world and represent our team, represent the Celtics,” assistant coach Walter McCarty said.

While Boston’s assistants are eager for this brief star turn, Stevens has been more of a reluctant recipient. He has said several times that he would rather have one or two more of his players in the game than to be the one coaching it. And he is both a dedicated family man and a meticulous and relentlessly prepared coach. So All-Star Weekend will, in essence, take away from some of that.


On Saturday, he said he had not given the All-Star Game any thought, because his team still had several games to play first.

“It’s so hard to tell,” Larranaga said of Stevens’s feelings about the upcoming weekend. “He cares about his family and he cares about doing his job well, I know that. And I think this is a sign that he’s doing his job well. But he is somebody that never stops working to get better and never stops looking forward to the next step, the next goal for our team.”

The game might be most meaningful to Stevens because it is quite meaningful to his young son, Brady. Stevens said Brady updated him on the standings for two weeks before the Celtics’ coaches clinched their spot.

“I think it means a little bit to Brad,” said Barlow, who played for Stevens at Butler, “but more so because Brady was super-excited and wanted to go.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.