Early sports playing career

Born in Eugene, Oregon, Ainge starred in high school on his football team and led North Eugene High School to back-to-back state basketball championships in 1976 and 1977, earning all-state honors both years; he was considered one of the top prep football recruits in the state of Oregon. As a junior, he was named to the 1977 Parade magazine High School All-America team. Danny Ainge is the only person to be a high school first team All-American in football, basketball, and baseball.

Ainge played basketball at Brigham Young University (BYU) and became a household name after hitting one of the best-known shots in NCAA March Madness history against Notre Dame in 1981. His coast-to-coast drive with seven seconds remaining gave the Cougars a one-point win. Ainge concluded his senior year by winning the Eastman Award, as well as the John R. Wooden Award—given to the best collegiate player in the nation. During his four-year career at BYU, Ainge 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.

Baseball career

Danny Ainge
Second baseman
Born: (1959-03-17) March 17, 1959 (age 57) Eugene, Oregon
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 21, 1979, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
September 22, 1981, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
Batting average	.220
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	37
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (1979-1981)

Ainge was selected in baseball's 1977 amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He made it to the major leagues with the Blue Jays in 1979 while still in college. Mostly a second baseman, he played third base and outfield positions as well, hitting .220 in his baseball career with 2 home runs and 146 hits in 211 games. He is the youngest player in Blue Jays history to hit a home run, at 20 years and 77 days. In 1981, Ainge played 3rd base in Len Barker's perfect game, going 0-for-2.

After three years with the Blue Jays, Ainge decided to pursue a career in basketball and was chosen in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, who had to buy out Ainge's contract from the Blue Jays after a legal battle.

NBA career

Not everything went well for Ainge in basketball at first. According to Larry Bird in his autobiography Drive: The Story of My Life, Ainge had a terrible first day of practice, "shooting 0-2547". Celtics' head coach at the time, Bill Fitch, gave Ainge a rough time, saying his batting average was better than his shooting percentage on the basketball court. But Ainge became an important piece of the team that won the NBA title in 1984 and 1986, and a major contributor of the mid to late-1980s Celtics teams.

Ainge was known as a hard-nosed player, often infuriating opponents with his brash personality. He also had a reputation for complaining about a lack of calls his way, frequently complaining when calls were not made in his favor. In a 1983 playoff game against Atlanta, he exchanged blows with the 7 foot 1 inch Tree Rollins and was ejected from the contest. Also, while playing for the Phoenix Suns, Ainge got into a tussle with Michael Jordan at mid court and both were given a technical foul. In a 1994 postseason game, Ainge rifled an inbounding pass at the head of Houston Rockets guard Mario Elie, striking him in the face, snapping his neck back.

In 1989, Ainge was traded to the Sacramento Kings for young center Joe Kleine, whom the Celtics saw as a possible substitute to the aging Robert Parish and Ed Pinckney.

In 1990, Ainge was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for Byron Irvin and draft picks. Being a native of Oregon, he was considered a hometown favorite by Blazers fans. He helped the Blazers reach the 1992 NBA Finals, only to succumb to the Chicago Bulls in six games. On June 5, he scored nine points in the extra period to tie an all-time NBA record for most points in an overtime during a finals game.

After the 1991-92 season, Ainge became a free agent. He had stated in media interviews that he ideally wanted to stay in Portland and would contact Blazers management before seriously entertaining offers from other teams. On July 1, 1992, however, Ainge signed a contract with the Phoenix Suns on his first day of free agency.

The Phoenix Suns were a team looking for a new identity. They inaugurated a new home (America West Arena), hired a new head coach (Paul Westphal), and acquired a new superstar (Charles Barkley). The team also redesigned their logo and uniform when they signed free agent Ainge prior to the 1992-93 season, figuring that his experience would help the team during the playoffs. Ainge responded by scoring 11.8 points per game as the Suns went 62-20 that year and reached the NBA finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan's Bulls in six games.

On January 18, 1994, he became the second man ever to hit 900 three-point shots in NBA history (he made 1,002 three pointers for his career), and he scored 11,964 points for an average of 11.5 points per game, 2,768 rebounds for an average of 2.7, and 4,199 assists, an average of four per game, over 1,042 NBA games.

Ainge retired after the 1994-95 season. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Post-basketball playing career

While a player with the Blue Jays, Ainge opened a national chain of hat stores which he has since sold. He has volunteered his time at a number of charitable organizations and has held a number of jobs since retiring. He became head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 1996. His resignation from the Suns coaching job was a sudden one; he cited a need to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by assistant coach Scott Skiles. In 2003, he was hired as the Executive Director of Basketball Operations for the Celtics. Ainge also served as a commentator for the NBA on TNT.

Ainge has often been controversial in his role as a Celtics executive, trading popular players such as three-time All-Star Antoine Walker (earning himself the nickname "Trader Dan") and having personality conflicts with then-head coach Jim O'Brien (which eventually led to O'Brien's departure to the Philadelphia 76ers). However, Ainge kept the support of both the Celtics' ownership group and—perhaps most importantly—legendary former head coach Red Auerbach, who was employed by the team as a "senior assistant" until his death in October 2006.

The 2006-07 Celtics finished with a 24-58 record, second-worst in the team's history. Following the season, Paul Pierce, team captain and face of the franchise, expressed frustration with the team's failures. He requested a trade to a contender if management were unable to acquire veteran talent of Pierce's caliber.

Ainge responded with two bold moves that changed the franchise's fortunes almost overnight: the 2007 trades for the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett and the Seattle SuperSonics' Ray Allen immediately returned the Celtics to the ranks of the NBA's elite franchises for the first time since the early 1990s. Together with Pierce, they formed a new "Big Three" and led the Celtics to the NBA's best record (66-16) during the 2007-08 season. It was the most dramatic single-season improvement in league history (42 wins more than the previous year), and it earned Ainge the NBA Executive of the Year Award.

Boston faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, renewing the long rivalry between the two teams. The Celtics won the series in six games, giving the franchise its 17th NBA championship. Danny Ainge held the trophy for the first time since winning in 1986. In October 2008, after the Celtics' championship season, he was promoted to President of Basketball Operations.

On May 3, 2010 Ainge was fined $25K for tossing a towel to distract a Cleveland Cavalier player shooting a free throw during game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

In popular culture

In an early 1990s episode of Married... with Children, light mockery was made at Ainge's expense: At a fictional All-Star basketball game attended by the Bundy family, the public announcer said Ladies and gentlemen, here are your NBA All Stars and Danny Ainge!. Clyde Drexler also laments when watching Peggy shooting a free throw that "if we had her instead of Ainge, we would have won the championship".

Rush Limbaugh briefly mentions Ainge in his book See, I Told You So

Danny Ainge is also discussed during the 1999 movie Mumford, where several of the characters are very impressed by him being both a professional basketball and baseball player, and one names her dog after him.

Ainge made cameo appearances in the movies Space Jam (1996) and The Singles Ward (2002). Also, Ainge is mentioned in the La Coka Nostra song, "Bang Bang".

Personal life

Ainge and his wife, Michelle, currently reside in Wellesley, Massachusetts; they have six children (Ashley, Austin, Tanner, Taylor, Cooper and Crew). His son, Austin Ainge, is director of player personnel for the Boston Celtics and like his father, played basketball at BYU. Ainge's nephew, Erik Ainge, was the starting quarterback on the football team at the University of Tennessee and was selected by the New York Jets in the 5th round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Another relative, Ryan Toolson, was a stand-out guard at Utah Valley University, where he was named NCAA Division I Independent Player of the Year. Ainge and his family are active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Danny Ainge awoke sick on April 15, 2009, and missed a Boston Celtics game. It was discovered later he had suffered a mild heart attack.

NBA career statistics

† NBA championship Led the league

Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG% Field goal percentage 3P% 3-point field goal percentage FT% Free throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1981-82	Boston	53	1	10.6	.357	.294	.862	1.1	1.6	0.7	0.1	4.1
1982-83	Boston	80	76	25.6	.496	.172	.742	2.7	3.1	1.4	0.1	9.9
1983-84†	Boston	71	3	16.3	.460	.273	.821	1.6	2.3	0.6	0.1	5.4
1984-85	Boston	75	73	34.2	.529	.268	.868	3.6	5.3	1.6	0.1	12.9
1985-86†	Boston	80	78	30.1	.504	.356	.904	2.9	5.1	1.2	0.1	10.7
1986-87	Boston	71	66	35.2	.486	.443	.897	3.4	5.6	1.4	0.2	14.8
1987-88	Boston	81	81	37.3	.491	.415	.878	3.1	6.2	1.4	0.2	15.7
1988-89	Boston	45	28	30.0	.460	.374	.891	3.4	4.8	1.2	0.0	15.9
1988-89	Sacramento	28	26	36.7	.452	.387	.813	3.6	6.7	1.5	0.2	20.3
1989-90	Sacramento	75	68	36.4	.438	.374	.831	4.3	6.0	1.5	0.2	17.9
1990-91	Portland	80	0	21.4	.472	.406	.826	2.6	3.6	0.8	0.2	11.1
1991-92	Portland	81	6	19.7	.442	.339	.824	1.8	2.5	0.9	0.2	9.7
1992-93	Phoenix	80	0	27.0	.462	.403	.848	2.7	3.3	0.9	0.1	11.8
1993-94	Phoenix	68	1	22.9	.417	.328	.830	1.9	2.6	0.8	0.1	8.9
1994-95	Phoenix	74	1	18.6	.460	.364	.808	1.5	2.8	0.6	0.1	7.7
Career		1042	508	26.6	.469	.378	.846	2.7	4.0	1.1	0.1	11.5

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1982	Boston	10	0	12.9	.422	.500	.769	1.3	1.1	0.2	0.1	5.0
1983	Boston	7	7	28.7	.389	.400	.727	2.0	3.6	0.7	0.1	9.4
1984†	Boston	19	0	13.3	.456	.222	.700	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.1	4.8
1985	Boston	21	21	32.7	.466	.438	.769	2.8	5.8	1.5	0.0	11.0
1986†	Boston	18	18	36.2	.554	.412	.867	4.2	5.2	2.3	0.1	15.6
1987	Boston	20	19	38.1	.487	.438	.861	2.6	4.6	1.2	0.2	14.8
1988	Boston	17	17	39.4	.386	.328	.881	3.1	6.4	0.5	0.1	11.6
1991	Portland	16	0	17.3	.448	.306	.821	1.8	1.9	0.8	0.2	8.0
1992	Portland	21	0	21.4	.479	.404	.830	1.9	2.3	0.7	0.0	10.6
1993	Phoenix	24	0	24.6	.376	.413	.872	2.5	2.3	0.5	0.1	8.1
1994	Phoenix	10	0	23.0	.458	.425	.714	2.3	2.1	0.6	0.1	8.6
1995	Phoenix	10	0	13.7	.500	.462	.909	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.0	6.0
Career		193	82	26.1	.456	.397	.829	2.3	3.4	0.9	0.1	9.9

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W-L %	Win-loss %
Post season	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW-L %	Playoff win-loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W-L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW-L%	Result
PHX	1996-97	74	40	34	.541	4th in Pacific	5	2	3	.400	Lost in First Round
PHX	1997-98	82	56	26	.683	3rd in Pacific	4	1	3	.250	Lost in First Round
PHX	1998-99	50	27	23	.540	3rd in Pacific	3	0	3	.000	Lost in First Round
PHX	1999-00	20	13	7	.650	(resigned)	—	—	—	—	-
Career		226	136	90	.602		12	3	9	.250

[ Source: Wikipedia ]