UPDATE (11:05 a.m. ET): Danny Ainge is stepping down as Celtics president of basketball operations and will be replaced by head coach Brad Stevens, the team announced Wednesday morning. According to the team’s official release, Ainge is retiring.
ORIGINAL STORY:Â It might be the end of the road in Boston for Danny Ainge, but if he leaves the Celtics, it doesn’t mean he’s done with the NBA altogether.
Mere hours after the Celtics’ ghastly 2020-21 season came to an end, a report emerged Wednesday morning that Ainge was considering his future and might step down from his post as president of basketball operations.
Shortly after that report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix followed up by indicating retirement isn’t necessarily in the 62-year-old’s plans.
“If Danny Ainge exits, he isn’t expected to retire, sources told @SInow,” Mannix tweeted. “Ainge has been running the Celtics for nearly two decades. Sense is he would look for other opportunities.”
Where exactly he would go is unclear. It’s worth noting Ainge was born in Oregon and went to college in Utah, two states that have NBA franchises.
If this is the end of Ainge’s time with the Celtics, he’ll be going out on a low note. The team he constructed disappointed all season long, and ultimately lost to the Brooklyn Nets in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
