Bringing Danny Back to Boston

After reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002, the Celtics took a step back the following postseason. Boston dropped five games in the standings and bowed out in the second round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs. Not waiting for the season’s end, the team hired former Celtics All-Star player and Phoenix Suns Coach Danny Ainge as Director of Basketball Operations during the middle of the playoff series against the New Jersey Nets. Said Red Auerbach about the team’s troubles, “That’s what we got Danny for. To straighten those things out.”