After their 2020-21 NBA was ended last night by the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics had some major shake ups as Danny Ainge steps down as President of Basketball Operation and Brad Stevens moves into the Front Office.
The Celtics will start a search to hire a head coach to replace Stevens. Ainge will work with the team on the transition through the off-season.
Ainge, 62, was the architect of Boston’s last title team, the 2008 team featuring Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and was the third-longest-tenured active lead executive of any NBA franchise.
According to NBA.com,
Danny Ainge, who helped bring two NBA titles to Boston as a player and another as the team’s basketball boss, stepped down from the Celtics front office just hours after they were eliminated from the postseason, and coach Brad Stevens is giving up his job on the bench to replace him.
Stevens will lead the search for his successor, the Celtics said in a news conference Wednesday. He leaves as the fourth-winningest coach in franchise history, but one who failed to hang a championship banner from the rafters.
“Hiring a new coach will give us a great opportunity to hire somebody that will be … a new, fresh voice with a new, fresh perspective,” Stevens said. “They don’t have to fill Doc Rivers’ shoes, like I did. And they don’t have to fill Danny Ainge’s shoes, like I do. They just have to figure out a way to be better than the last guy.”
Ainge’s future remains unclear, although Chris Mannix of SportsIllustrated.com reports Ainge could potentially wind up with the Utah Jazz in a front office capacity. Ainge starred at BYU as a player and is “best friends” with Jazz owner Ryan Smith, per Henry Abbott.
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