As an NBA player, Danny Ainge was a fiery guy whose emotions were evident to anyone who saw him play. And yet when it came to running basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, there was an unmistakable deliberate nature about him that often led to him holding out on pulling the trigger on deals longer than some might expect.
Different roles, different approaches, right?
We’re seeing that play out in real-time with his successor, ex-Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. As an NBA coach and prior to that at Butler, Stevens’ level-headed, even-keeled demeanor was a clear window into his vision for leading which as a coach, required a high level of patience and understanding.
But in his new role as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, Stevens has been surprisingly quick to get things done.
The two biggest offseason challenges he faced were what to do with Kemba Walker and who would be his replacement as the team’s head coach.
Stevens wasted no time checking both of those off his to-do list by trading Walker for Al Horford who returns for a second tour of duty with the Green team. And his heir apparent leading the Celtics will be Ime Udoka, longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant who most recently was an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets.
The speed at which Stevens has gotten those two things done has not been lost on league executives.
“I don’t know if it’s the best deal they could have gotten for Kemba, but it’s a good deal,” an Eastern Conference league executive told Boston Sports Journal. “By the look of things, Brad’s trying to get good deals done that make sense. Danny? He was always aiming for a great deal and had no problem letting a good one go by. Brad’s doing the GM thing sort of how he coached; he’s confident he can get good deals done and turn them into great ones.”
When asked about the Horford trade, a rival executive believes the ”throw-in” of the deal, Mo Brown, may wind up making the biggest impact for Boston in the short term.
“Al (Horford) is going to help them for sure,” the executive texted. “But the Brown kid … I wouldn’t be surprised if he works his way into a regular rotation guy for them this season.”
The 7-foot-2 center had a 21-point, 23-rebound performance in Oklahoma City’s upset win over Boston on March 27. It was Brown’s fourth straight double-figure rebounding performance. For the season, he averaged 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game
YAM MADAR ON HIS WAY?
When the Boston Celtics traded Kemba Walker for a pair of bigs, his departure created an undeniable void in the team’s backcourt. The only guards the Celtics can feel good about as players now for Boston, are Marcus Smart and Peyton Pritchard. And with Smart coming up on the end of his contract with no clear direction towards getting an extension done, he may very well be on the move this summer.
In the coming weeks, expect to hear the name of Yam Madar come up ... a lot. The 6-foot-3 guard was drafted with the 47th overall pick in the 2020 draft by Boston. At this point, there’s more smoke than fire when it comes to him being with the Celtics this season. But it is something the Celtics are giving some thought to doing, not only because of the void left by Walker but just as important, it appears Madar may be ready.
Playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Super League, he averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 assists and did so while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 40.4 percent on 3-pointers. And when he gets fouled, he has shown he can knock down the freebies, too. This past season he shot 82.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Of course in Boston, we’ve seen more than our share of international stashed talent come over to the NBA and soon remind us that there was a reason why they were stashed (and a reason or two why they probably should still be stashed). But the reports on Madar should give Celtics fans real hope that he can come in and be a contributor sooner rather than later.
DID HE SAY THAT?
ESPN analyst Jay Williams was in the news again. Usually when that happens, it’s not a good thing. His latest insert-foot-in-mouth moment came shortly after the news broke that the Celtics were going to hire Ime Udoka as their next head coach. Soon after, this beauty showed up on Williams’ timeline.
Right off the jump, Williams is flat-out wrong.
Udoka isn’t the first Black coach to lead the Celtics. In fact, Black head coaches have had a pretty good run of late with the franchise when you consider the last three championships won by Boston (1981, 1986, and 2008) were teams led by Black coaches.
Williams hit the “my account has been hacked” default button when social media tried to rip him a new one for getting this so wrong.
This whole incident was a reminder of how so many people, whether it was Williams or someone who hacked his account as he alleged, can’t bring themselves to discern the difference between the Boston Celtics franchise and the community they play in as it relates to diversity.
There is no doubt that the community surrounding the Celtics has had its share of issues with race and diversity, with many of those same issues and concerns prevalent to this day. Far too often, the Celtics are corralled into conversations on race and diversity even though their track record when it comes to diversity and race, has been strong.
There was no such thing as a Black NBA head coach until the Celtics did it with Bill Russell in 1966. There was no such thing as a Black starting five until the Celtics did it in 1964. There was no such thing as a Black player being drafted by an NBA team, until the Celtics did it first in 1950 with Chuck Cooper.
Recognize the history, folks.
The (Nia) Long and short of it
When the news broke that Ime Udoka was coming to Boston, it was hard to tell which was more exciting for fans: him becoming the Celtics head coach or his partner, actress Nia Long, coming too.
Long, 50, is an award-winning actress who has appeared in several television shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and is best known for roles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), Love Jones, Soul Food (both 1997), The Best Man (1999) and its sequel The Best Man Holiday (2013), Big Momma's House (2000) and its sequel Big Momma's House 2 (2006).
Ainge on the move
Like many retirees, Danny Ainge is working towards creating a “new normal” for himself now that the daily grind of running the Boston Celtics is no longer something he worries about. One of the first moves Ainge is looking to make is moving on from his current home in Wellesley, Mass.
The 62-year-old Ainge, who moved into the six-bedroom, six-bath home in 2003 - the year he became an executive with the Celtics - is selling it for $4.5 million.
The home, purchased for $2.3 million in 2003, includes an additional two half-bathrooms and is spread over 8,309 square feet.
Regardless of where Ainge winds up going forward, he will always have a home in the hearts of Celtics fans. While the last few years haven’t gone as well as Ainge or the Celtics would like, he led the franchise from being a regular in the NBA lottery to a frequent title contender which eventually led to the franchise’s 17th NBA title, in 2008. Ainge was named Executive of the Year that season, helping bring home the only title won by this franchise in the last 35 years.