Danny Ainge

Lore & Background

A three-sport star in high school, Ainge was named to All-America teams in football, basketball, and baseball. At Brigham Young University, he was named national basketball college player of the year and won the John R. Wooden Award. While in college, Ainge also played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was then drafted into the NBA by the Celtics in 1981. Ainge played in the NBA for 14 seasons, for the Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns. He went on to coach the Suns for three seasons before joining management of the Celtics, with whom Ainge has three NBA championships (two as a player, one as a team executive). He appeared in the 1988 All-Star Game and was the NBA Executive of the Year in 2008.

Reader's Guide

Ainge played college basketball at Brigham Young University. He hit one of the best-known shots in the 1981 NCAA tournament, against Notre Dame in Atlanta in the Sweet Sixteen. Ainge concluded his senior year winning the Eastman Award and the John R. Wooden Award. During his four-year career at BYU, he was an All-American, a two-time First Team Academic All-American, the WAC Player of the Year and a four-time All-WAC selection.

He concluded his college career having scored in double figures in 112 consecutive games, an NCAA record at that time. In baseball, Ainge was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1977 amateur draft. He made it to the major leagues with the Blue Jays while still in college. Mostly a second baseman, he hit .220 with two home runs and 146 hits in 211 games.

After three years with the Blue Jays, he decided to pursue basketball and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the second round (31st overall) of the 1981 NBA draft. The Celtics had to buy out Ainge's contract from the Blue Jays after a legal battle. Ainge is one of 13 athletes who have played in the NBA and MLB.

Did You Know?

• Ainge is the second-youngest player in Blue Jays history to hit a home run, at 20 years and 77 days, surpassed only by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• In 1986–87, Ainge finished second in the NBA in free throw shooting (89.7%) and third in 3-point shooting (44.3%).
• Ainge made 148 3-pointers in 1987–88, shattering the previous NBA single-season record of 92 held by Darrell Griffith.
• At the time of his retirement, Ainge had the highest personal winning percentage in NBA history among players with at least 1,000 career games (69.0%).