Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was named the NBA Basketball Executive of the Year for the second time in three seasons on Tuesday.

Stevens’ Celtics finished with the second-best record (56-26) in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26 and secured a top-two playoff seed for the fifth time in his five seasons in his current role.

Boston accomplished that despite parting ways with Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday before the season and only having All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum for 16 games after he recovered from an Achilles injury.

Stevens, who also won the award in 2023-24, is the 12th executive to receive the honor multiple times since it was first presented in 1972-73.

Stevens, 49, received 11 first-place votes and 69 total points in voting by his fellow executives. Atlanta Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh was second with 41 points, one more than Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon.

Before joining Boston’s front office, Stevens served as the team’s head coach for eight seasons and tallied a 354-282 record. During his 13-year tenure with the franchise, the Celtics have made 12 playoff appearances.

The Celtics currently have a 3-1 lead in their first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers. Game 5 is on Tuesday night in Boston.

–Field Level Media

Mexico’s FIFA World Cup roster began to take shape Tuesday with a dozen Liga MX players invited to the camp that begins on May 6.

Manager Javier Aguirre’s crew will be joined in training later in the month by players who are based in Europe and elsewhere. His final roster for this summer’s tournament is due at the end of May.

The 12-member Liga MX contingent includes 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora of Club Tijuana, Toluca forward Alexis Vega, Club America defender Israel Reyes and five players from Chivas: goalkeeper Raul “Tala” Rangel, forward Armando Gonzalez and midfielders Brian Gutierrez, Roberto Alvardo and Luis Romo.

Also on the list are goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo of Santos Laguna, defender Jesus Gallardo of Toluca, midfielder Erik Lira of Cruz Azul and forward Memo Martinez of Pumas.

Mora is rounding into shape after missing two months with a groin injury and has a chance to become Mexico’s youngest World Cup participant, supplanting 18-year-old Manuel “Chaquetas” Rosas in 1930. Seven 17-year-olds have participated in the tournament, including Brazil’s Pele in 1958.

Mexico is co-hosting the FIFA World Cup along with the U.S. and Canada. Mexico is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, one spot ahead of the Americans.

Placed in Group A with South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic, Mexico opens the World Cup against South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City.

–Field Level Media

The Detroit Pistons need a three-game winning streak to avoid joining an infamous list. Only six top seeds in NBA history have flamed out in the first round of the playoffs to a No. 8 seed.

The Pistons trail Orlando 3-1 in their best-of-seven series after a 94-88 road loss on Monday. The series resumes in Detroit on Wednesday night.

Detroit has to regain its swagger or join the 2023 Milwaukee Bucks as the only top seed since 2012 to get knocked out this early in the postseason.

The troubling reality for the Pistons, who won 60 regular-season games, is that the Magic — with the exception of Detroit’s third-quarter outburst in Game 2 — consistently have looked like the better team.

The Magic have throttled the All-Star pick-and-roll combination of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, leaving Detroit’s offense in tatters.

“The way that we’ve been playing, that stuff’s not good enough to win games in this league,” Cunningham said. “This league’s too good, they’re a good team. They’re outrebounding us, turning me over and we haven’t hit enough shots. Our defense hasn’t caught its footing. It’s not shocking that we’re losing games playing like that.”

With Duren neutralized by counterpart Wendell Carter Jr. and Orlando’s defensive coverage, Cunningham has been left to carry the offense. He’s averaging 29.5 points in the series but shooting just 42.4% overall and 28.6% from 3-point range. Turnovers have been a bigger issue. He’s averaging 6.8 giveaways in the series and committed eight in Game 4.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”

The Pistons’ lack of 3-point shooting has come back to bite them — they’re making just 27.5 percent of their attempts in the series.

Orlando realizes that in order to complete the upset, it will have to grind out another victory against a now desperate club.

“This is a team that won 60 games,” guard Desmond Bane said. “I’m sure they will not blink an eye about being able to win three games in a row. They did it multiple times during the regular season. We are going to have to come ready to play. I’m excited about the challenge.”

Paolo Banchero (21.0 points per game) and Bane (19.0) have been the Magic’s offensive leaders in the series. Franz Wagner scored 19 points in Game 4 but left with calf tightness. His availability for Wednesday and the remainder of the series is a big question mark.

In his absence, Jamal Cain made a major impact, including a monster dunk over Duren in the second half. Cain finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

“We’ve put ourselves in position to try to get four (wins),” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Right now, it means nothing. We have the advantage and now we’ve just got to make sure we’ve try to keep that advantage.”

–Field Level Media