Danny Ainge Has Some Problems That Need Fixing
This year’s Celtics have not lived up to the hype, and Danny Ainge is partially to blame
The Boston Celtics have been an Eastern Conference heavyweight for so many years now, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals 3 times in the last 4 years, but they’ve never been able to get over the hump. The Celtics also seem to always find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.
During the 2016–17 ECF, the Celtics lost Isaiah Thomas to a career-ending injury and were cast aside by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 games. In the 2017–18 ECF, LeBron did what LeBron does and stomped the underdog Celtics, who were decimated by injuries to their two best players, in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss. The 2018–19 ECSF saw a team that was healthy on paper, but behind the scenes were fractured beyond repair, and they lost in five games due to a lack of chemistry. Lastly, the Miami Heat took a 3–1 stranglehold lead on the Celtics in the 2019–20 ECF, who didn’t have key contributor Gordon Hayward for nearly all of the series.
Long story short, the Celtics have always been great, but they’ve never been great enough. So far this year, history is repeating itself. It’s the same old problems that have plagued them in years past, whether it be getting destroyed by centers down…
