Brad Stevens watched the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden high above courtside. At times sharing space with Bill Belichick in a luxury box.

The clips of Stevens and Belichick together during the Celtics title run offered reassurance that whatever wisdom Belichick was willing to dispense was being happily absorbed by the Celtics general manager.

It unknowingly would serve as a visual metaphor for what has occurred on the court and in the sports ethos of New England since.

Brad Stevens is now the resident genius in the 617/508/978 area code.

He is New England’s Resident Mastermind.

Give him a hoodie and a boat named “I Ring.”

Stevens is less Lord Vader and more Luke Skywalker.

He’s used guile, guts, and genius to build a Celtics team that dominated the NBA from start to finish.

But Stevens heeded the words of Det. Harry Callahan.

“Man’s got to know his limitations,” Dirty Harry told us that after Lt. Briggs (Hal Holbrook) got blown to bits at the end of “Magnum Force.”

Stevens knew his limitations – namely that he was not suited to coach a Celtics team with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum at its core.

When he stepped aside for Ime Udoka as coach, it appeared the Celtics had their leadership team set for a decade.

Alas, Ime did not know his limitations when it came to workplace behavior.

Stevens then gave the job to Joe Mazzulla just hours before the start of training camp two seasons ago. The now 35-year-old Mazzulla grew up in Rhode Island. Now, he’s forever a son of the North End.

These Celtics proved that 16-3 in the postseason beats 18-1 no matter how you do the math. Stevens took a victory lap/held a pre-NBA draft press conference Tuesday.

“The adulation means nothing,” he said of winning Banner 18.

Stevens admitted he loved the parade, however. He also spoke of the “75 or 76” people who worked together in the Celtics organization (including the chefs) to make this team a champion.

The one-man-as-king form of leadership in pro sports has gone the way of “gambling” being a four-letter word in the NFL.

Like Belichick, Stevens constantly tinkered to find right pieces to place around his core superstar(s) to put the Celtics in title contention.

Stevens, and Danny Ainge before him, never stopped swimming.

But in 2024, the worlds of Belichick and Stevens have little in common outside of their intersection in the luxury box at TD Garden.

Belichick, now 72, went from being the most-coveted unemployed NFL coach to TMZ laughing stock in the span of six months.

He clearly does not know his limitations.

His romance with a woman 17,884 days his junior has become the hottest topic of this NFL offseason.

And it turns out Gronk – of all people – offered both a warning and words of wisdom when it came to his former coach’s love life.

“Coach, you used to talk about Foxboro High School when we sucked,” Gronkowski said during the Tom Brady Netflix roast. “But now I know why you were so obsessed with Foxboro High School: you were scouting your new girlfriend.”

“I mean coach, my joke wasn’t (expletive) up but that’s (expletive) up.”

Gronk didn’t let up. At the Brady Hall of Fame Tribute, he told Barstool Sports the following offstage: “2024 is just (the) age (of) girls that Tom and Bill are talking to now, 24-year-olds.”

Update, Gronk. The girl Belichick is dating just turned 23 two months ago.

John Henry and Robert Kraft are off the hook. Henry met his third wife when he was 59 and she was 30 years his younger.

Kraft was recently widowed when he began dating Ricki Lander in 2012. Lander was 32. Kraft was 71. That relationship lasted 6 years. Lander had a child in 2017, but Kraft has said he was not the child’s biological father.

Now Gronk says he wishes this fun-loving, jovial version of Belichick was coaching the Patriots back when he played.

We’re not sure if that includes Belichick dating someone who was not yet conceived when he was hired by the Patriots.

Or still in utero when the Patriots won Super Bowl 36.

Or still in diapers when the team won Super Bowl 38.

Or still in elementary school when the Patriots whiffed in Super Bowl 42.

Or soaring as a sophomore cheerleader at Nauset Regional High School when the Patriots turned 3-28 into a national holiday.

Pretty icky. But that’s just me.

Former NFL lineman and three-time Super Bowl winner Mark Schlereth called Belichick “a pig” for being romantically involved with a woman who was still in high school when the Patriots won their last Super Bowl. “That’s disgusting,” he said of Belichick to a Denver radio station.

That Belichick had moved on from his long-time relationship with Linda Holliday to Generation Z was known in NFL circles and among the elites on Nantucket.

It’s not known if Belichick’s April 1952-April 2001 romance factored in him not finding a job this NFL offseason.

All signs point to the fact that the teams most interested in hiring Belichick the coach were not interested in Belichick the generalissimo.

“Dating” someone 48 years, 11 months, and 18 days your junior may be a point of pride for some. For me, it would be a one-way ticket to prison. I’m only 59.

It could also be a tough sell for any NFL franchise when it comes to winning over the hearts and minds of female fans. Never mind girl dads.

It, however, may clinch Belichick’s next head coaching job when it comes to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The Cowboys are seen as the best/only possible fit for Belichick during or after this upcoming season.

If Dallas struggles this fall, Mike McCarthy’s seat will be set at 450 degrees.

Just warm enough for Belichick.

He should be well rested by then.

Or completely exhausted.

Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos on X) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com.