The Boston Celtics shook their front office on Wednesday, a day after they had been removed from the match, together with president of basketball operations Danny Ainge retiring and trainer Brad Stevens moving to the front office to substitute him.
The moves match about 12 hours following the 17-time NBA champions lost to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 of the first-round playoff series.
Celtics staff were advised Wednesday morning of their movements, which were first reported by ESPN and The Athletic.
He was voted the league’s leading executive at 2008, when Boston won its 17th championship — a league record which has been matched with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Helping direct this business has become the delight of a life,” Ainge said in a statement. “Having worked side-by-side since he has already been here, I know we could not be in better control than with Brad directing the group moving forward.”
Stevens has accepted the Celtics into the playoffs in seven of those eight decades since he abandoned Butler for his first NBA coaching job.
He said the hunt for his replacement will probably be”comprehensive and wide-ranging.”
“I really like that the Celtics, and understand the fantastic honor and duty that accompanies this endeavor,” he explained. “I’ll give everything I must help us be able to compete for championships.”
Stevens didn’t allude to the looming moves in his closing news conference after the reduction in Brooklyn, however he imputed into Boston’s future.
“We did not play great basketball, but we showed a great deal of expansion in the last couple of weeks, both independently and sometimes together,” Stevens explained. “And therefore, there is things to build off of. But at precisely the exact same time, the endeavor is tall and if you wish to be in the combination, then you have got to become much better than we were.”
After reaching the conference finals this past year, losing to Miami from the NBA bubble, the Celtics struggled with injuries and COVID-19 this year, losing 10 of the last 15 matches to fall to seventh in the East. They beat Washington from the play-in match but could only afford one win against the Nets and prior Celtic Kyrie Irving.
“You are able to enhance through ongoing development and the ideal work ethic and also doing a fantastic job with all the developmental substance,” Stevens explained. “Then, of course, there’s the capability to get people. This group that defeat is a really good team. We never have a legitimate look at this group this year, however I believe we have sufficient information which demonstrates that we will need to improve.”