The Boston Celtics executed a shocking overhaul on Wednesday, with Danny Ainge stepping down as president of basketball operations and Brad Stevens moving from head coach to the front office to take Ainge's job. It was a move months in the making, and it seems clear Ainge was sick of the job and ready to be done with the grind.
Ainge admitted Wednesday his 2019 heart attack had him starting to think about his future with the Celtics. He then finally decided a few months ago in the midst of a difficult season that it was time for him to go. It's unclear if Ainge is going to fully retire, but if he does keep working, it seems he doesn't want to work all that hard.
This is a mood:
Danny Ainge on @Toucherandrich is a mood:
"I want to work, but I don't want to do very much. So, there's not that many people out there looking for somebody to hire to do very little."
— Darren Hartwell (@darren_hartwell) June 3, 2021
There have been rumblings that Ainge could look to go work for the Utah Jazz. If he does go there or anywhere else, it would likely be in a figurehead role where he wouldn't have to deal with the day-to-day rigors of a top basketball operations executive job.
Ainge spent nearly two decades running the Celtics after taking over in 2003. He built the 2008 title team by making bold moves for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and he put in a lot of work over the years trying to acquire star talent. While he became something of a running joke for all the trade rumors, there's no doubt he had a lot of success in Boston as an executive and should be remembered fondly by the Celtics faithful.
We'll see if Danny Ainge winds up getting another job elsewhere. But based on this quote, it sounds like the dude should just ride off into the sunset, enjoy time with his family and do some traveling. He has gobs of money and nothing left to prove.
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