Danny Ainge the player could be described as hard nosed, brash, a pest that infuriated his opponents. He was also a legit three point threat and could he score! He was tough as hell, willing to go up against guys like Jordan and get in heated exchanges as he did in 93. Danny Ainge the executive could be described as shrewd, intelligent, probably brash! It got to the point where no GM wanted to trade with Danny in fear he would make them look like a fool.
Ainge was a three sport athlete playing baseball, football and you guessed basketball. He played three years of professional baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays. You could say his toughness on the court came from playing football. He won two titles with the Boston Celtics in 84 and 86. During one of his seasons in Bean town he had career highs in three point and free throw percentage. Danny made the All Star team in 1988.
In 89 Danny was traded to the Kings for Ed Pinckney and Joe Kleine. For some Celtics fans it was incredibly disappointing to see him get traded away. During his season with the Kings he averaged 20 points a game and even matched his career high of 45 points in a game. Following playing with the Kings Danny went home to Portland to be with the Blazers and was part of a team that went to the NBA Finals in 1992. Let's just say Danny didn't back down from anyone. Coming up clutch for the Blazers despite getting beat by the Bulls.
After leaving the Blazers he joined the Phoenix Suns where once again he found himself in the NBA Finals against the Bulls. Danny came up big for the Suns but it wasn't enough - as you know they lost to the Bulls. As part of the Suns he eclipsed 900 made three point shots which is very impressive. Following his playing career Danny has a short stint as the Suns head coach but left after a few years citing wanting to spend more time with his family.
In 2003 Danny finally returned home to the Celtics in an executive role. In 2008 it lead to him being Executive of theYear. As a GM Danny in his brilliance was able to bring in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the same off season to play with Paul Pierce and we all know the rest was history as the Celtics secured Banner 17. What's even more amazing about Danny is that as GM, when both KG and the Truth were long in the tooth, he traded them away which eventually led to drafting both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Due to Danny always winning his trades very few GMs we're willing to deal with him in fear of looking foolish.
Danny the actor was in Space Jam in 96! Danny was a tough, no fear player who was a killer shooter. As GM you could say the same. Danny's legacy will go down as a winner. It's just too bad he was only able to secure one ring as GM. Do you remember the headline Tree Bites Man?! Well in a game Danny decided to call Tree Rollins a sissy and we'll, they began to tussle and Tree bit Danny in anger. Talk about getting under the opponents skin. Gotta love it.
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