According to Danny Ainge, very few people knew about his looming departure from the Celtics.
In fact, Ainge explained Thursday, one day after retiring as Boston’s president of basketball operations, that Celtics players had “no knowledge” of his plan to step down, in turn paving the way for head coach Brad Stevens to assume his front-office position.
So, how did the players react to Wednesday’s news?
“I think that they were just caught off-guard,” Ainge said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich.” “I think they were just surprised that any of this was happening. So, we just talked through it. They’ll be fine.”
Fair enough.
Nevertheless, this constitutes a huge shakeup for the organization, which now must backfill Stevens’ vacated head-coaching position. Stevens will lead the coaching search, but Ainge will continue to work with the Celtics on transition planning this offseason.
“I’ve been very forthright with Brad. He has been very nice. We have a great relationship. He knows I’m not going to butt in. It’s going to be Brad’s decisions from here on out,” Ainge said Thursday. “And obviously (Celtics co-owner) Wyc (Grousbeck) will have a say in the coaching (search) and have some input, and (Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca), all of them will be involved. I think I’ll know when I feel like Brad doesn’t need me around, and I don’t really want to hover.
“The staff that is already in place, that Brad’s inheriting, I think is great, and I think they’re gonna be very, very helpful. If I didn’t exist, I think they would be great and ready to move on. I can help them for the first little while, but ultimately Brad will be caught up on the draft in no time. I think that this is a pretty heavy burden of just trying to find a new coach at this time. I think his list will be extensive. And so that’ll be time-consuming, trying to find a new coach.
Ainge held his position with the Celtics for 18 seasons, during which Boston made the playoffs 15 times and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals on seven occasions. The C’s reached the NBA Finals twice under Ainge, winning the championship in 2008 after he famously traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the form the “Big Three” alongside longtime franchise cornerstone Paul Pierce.
