Long-time Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge just recently accepted a job with the Utah Jazz. His official title will be Alternate Governor and CEO of the team. The move comes only a few months after he supposedly retired following nearly 20 years in Boston’s front office.
Most fans were shocked by how sudden it was, but in retrospect, it makes a ton of sense. Ainge was working wild hours with the C’s, and his job certainly wasn’t an easy one. Needless to say, a lot of long-time media members weren’t all that stunned.
On the latest edition of the Jeff Goodman and Bob Ryan podcast, Goodman expressed his lack of surprise regarding Ainge’s latest venture:
“I think he knew this was going to be the endgame… Listen, the guy they have running Utah right now, Justin Zanick, is not a basketball guy… We know Danny. Listen, he’s buddies with the owner in Utah, played at BYU. It had run its course in Boston.”
When hired, Ainge said that he has “known and respected Ryan [Jazz owner] and Ashley Smith for years.” In addition, the retired NBA guard played his college ball at BYU, attending the university from 1977-1981. Bob Ryan was quick to agree with Goodman’s remarks:
“I thought it was just inevitable. It didn’t remotely surprise me that that’s where he ended up… I’m just not surprised at all, I think it was an appropriate landing spot for him… He’ll figure out the workload and whatever he chooses will be fine for them… His name resonates in that community.”
Ainge has clearly built a reputation for himself in Utah, just as he did in Boston. According to NBC Sports Boston’s Gary Tanguay, who joined Goodman on Ryan for the episode, Ainge wasn’t treated fairly during his tenure with the Celtics.
“I feel bad. I’m a Danny Ainge fan and I feel that he kind of got a bad wrap here in Boston… Kyrie just blew up on him the way he’s blown up on everybody else. And then I think Danny, Jeff and Bob, I think Danny just said, ‘I can’t deal with this, I got to get out of here, I can’t deal with these clowns.’”
When Ainge traded Isaiah Thomas away for Kyrie Irving, it was largely viewed as the right move. However, hindsight is 20/20. Once Irving left Boston and the issues started to pile up, Celtics fans were quick to jump on Ainge for making the ‘wrong move.’ Add in the on-court drama Irving brought, and it was a lot for on GM to deal with.
Tanguay even expanded on that idea, bringing up the current state of the roster. He even went as far as saying Ainge knew that they had to ‘blow it up,’ and instead chose to leave the organization entirely.
“And quite frankly, I think that when you look at Jayson Tatum and you look at Jaylen Brown, I think you look at those two guys and say, we’re not going to win with these guys either, ‘cus they’re not. They’re not. They’re not going to win with this team. They got to blow it up, and I think he knew that.”
