Danny Ainge Has Message For Celtics As Boston Faces Elimination Vs. Heat

Seize the day.

That’s the advice Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been giving his team this week as they attempt to come back in their Eastern Conference finals series against the Miami Heat.

Ainge told The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach on Thursday he wants the youthful Celtics to understand the opportunity to reach the NBA Finals isn’t guaranteed to come their way in the future, so they must make the most of their current situation.

“Resolve,” Ainge said when asked about his primary message to the team. “This opportunity doesn’t come along all the time. Guys at young ages probably think that it will. I’m not sure that when you’re as young as some of our players are that you can appreciate that. You just don’t know when these opportunities come along. You think they’re going to last forever.”

The Celtics’ roster contains nine players age 25 or younger, but sports have proven through the years that potential doesn’t guarantee future success.

Perhaps that’s why Ainge — who endured 22 years between winning an NBA championship with the 1986 Celtics as a player and returning to glory with the 2008 Celtics as an executive — stresses that point to the current Boston squad, which has its collective back firmly against the wall.

The Celtics, down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, will take on the Heat at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday in Game 5.