There's a good chance we haven't seen the last of Danny Ainge in the NBA. But what will his next role look like?
Ainge's professional future is unclear after he stepped down as Boston Celtics president of basketball operations in early June. What's clear to Ainge, though, is that he wants to continue to work in the NBA -- assuming he can do less actual work.
"I want to work again. I just don’t want to do the crazy lifestyle that I had for the last 18 years," Ainge told The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy recently.
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Trae Young's dad shares throwback photo of son with Ainge, Stevens
An Oregon native who was a basketball star at Brigham Young University in Utah, Ainge reportedly is "in play" for a front-office job with the Utah Jazz. It doesn't sound like he's in any rush to take a job, however.
'"I have nothing right now," Ainge said. "I just got done with a long walk and swim this morning. And taking my wife to tennis. We just got back from spending lots of time with our parents that we haven’t seen since the pandemic started, so we had some good times with our family and there’s nothing on the horizon as I see it."
The 62-year-old and his family also put their $4.5 million home in Wellesley, Mass., up for sale last month, but said that doesn't necessarily mean he's moving from the Northeast.
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"The house is for sale but we’re not moving for sure," Ainge said. "We’re not certain on that.”
Ainge said in early June that he hadn't made himself available to other teams and that he was focused on taking time off. It appears he's still in (semi-) retirement mode, although perhaps that will change as the 2021-22 season nears.
When (if?) Ainge does return, it will likely be in an advisory/part-time role rather than a GM or basketball operations role. He also has been helping new Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens with the front-office transition this offseason, so that's probably more than enough responsibility for the free-agent executive.