If the celtics won it all again should ainge have his # retired?

[Roy Hobbs]

Don't jinx us, Roy.  He hasn't contributed to 4 titles yet.

I'm just responding to the thread title.  I'm not taking #18 for granted, trust me. 

However, I think he's already done enough, regardless of another title.  He played in four NBA Finals for the team, won two championships, and brought us another banner (when we seemed liked we were a long, long way away from one.)

[radiohead]

Being a player in past Celtics championship teams (84 and a starter in 86), getting banner #17, and making the Celtics relevant again after 20 plus years. Those are Danny's key contributions to the Celtics organization. If the C's do get banner #18 this year, I think it would be safe to say that Danny does deserve to have his number retired.

[cornbreadsmart]

I'd love to see some ainge highlights during that night. A lot of scraps! I love him for the way he played. All out, all the time.

[ibby]

Maybe not his number, but there should be some sort of recognition for him.

[Jon]

Can probably also then ask the same question about KG and Ray, who at that point would have won as many titles as Cowens, JoJo, and DJ. 

[guava_wrench]

If we win it all this year and KG plays a full 5 years with us (the length of his contract), I see his number definitely being retired.

[GreenFaith1819]

Wow - I thought his number was already retired.

One ring as a player..at least One ring (Great Potential for Two) rings as a GM?

Brought us Ray Ray and KG?

Brought us solid pieces to get Ray Ray and KG (Big Al, Gomes, Delonte, 5th pick in the 2007 draft, etc)

Got us all Rondo'd!

Got us Sheed! I know - this one didn't look good, up until the CLE series, but still...it's making Ainge look good now...

Went with Glen vice Powe..I love Powe (still do), but Glen has been big for us. We wouldn't have even had Powe's services until end of Febuary at the earliest.

Most definitely Danny Ainge should have his number retired as a Boston Celtic!

He got it done as a player, and he is getting it done as a GM!

[Roy Hobbs]

One ring as a player

Two rings as a player ('84 and '86), actually, and he played in two other Finals ('85 and '87).

[Roy Hobbs]

If we win it all this year and KG plays a full 5 years with us (the length of his contract), I see his number definitely being retired.

That was always my criteria for Ray and KG:  at least two rings and five years played.

[More Banners]

Well, we probably agree that strictly as a player, #44 doesn't get retired in honor of Danny Ainge.  Right?

As a GM, he's put together exactly one title-level core that will hopefully win at least two, hopefully 3+ banners.

Funny that nobody has yet posted any sort of standard or criteria for getting up to the rafters as a non-player?  We can sort of get a feel for a standard for players by who is already up there.  Could we do the same for a non-player?  There is only Walter Brown and Red Auerbach up there as non-players.  My gut says that to come close to making a "Red Auerbach" standard as a non-player, a person would have to do one or more of several things (that may not be possible in the current era):

1) completely revolutionize the way a team is made, a la inventing the idea of 6th man.

2) Coach the team to more consecutive championships than has ever occurred (or likely will) in any professional sport.

3) As GM, build and completely rebuild the roster to create championship winning teams with completely different cores in three different decades.

I'd say talk of raising Danny to the rafters is a little premature.  Putting one title-level core together one time doesn't cut it, even when coupled with being a solid starting-caliber role player on two title teams. 

If he rebuilds the team and banners are raised post-KG, then the discussion is warranted.

If he rebuilds the team and yet More Banners are raised post-Rondo era, then I'd probably sew the thing together myself.

[Roy Hobbs]

Well, we probably agree that strictly as a player, #44 doesn't get retired in honor of Danny Ainge.  Right?

As a GM, he's put together exactly one title-level core that will hopefully win at least two, hopefully 3+ banners.

Funny that nobody has yet posted any sort of standard or criteria for getting up to the rafters as a non-player?  We can sort of get a feel for a standard for players by who is already up there.  Could we do the same for a non-player?  There is only Walter Brown and Red Auerbach up there as non-players.  My gut says that to come close to making a "Red Auerbach" standard as a non-player, a person would have to do one or more of several things (that may not be possible in the current era):

1) completely revolutionize the way a team is made, a la inventing the idea of 6th man.

2) Coach the team to more consecutive championships than has ever occurred (or likely will) in any professional sport.

3) As GM, build and completely rebuild the roster to create championship winning teams with completely different cores in three different decades.

I'd say talk of raising Danny to the rafters is a little premature.  Putting one title-level core together one time doesn't cut it, even when coupled with being a solid starting-caliber role player on two title teams. 

If he rebuilds the team and banners are raised post-KG, then the discussion is warranted.

If he rebuilds the team and yet More Banners are raised post-Rondo era, then I'd probably sew the thing together myself.

The thing is, you can't strictly look at Danny as a "non-player".  He was a contributor on two title teams, and played in two additional Finals with the Celts.

What you're getting is the Danny combo package.  Danny has contributed to three title teams (minimum).  To me, that's enough to earn enshrinement.

[More Banners]

Well, we probably agree that strictly as a player, #44 doesn't get retired in honor of Danny Ainge.  Right?

As a GM, he's put together exactly one title-level core that will hopefully win at least two, hopefully 3+ banners.

Funny that nobody has yet posted any sort of standard or criteria for getting up to the rafters as a non-player?  We can sort of get a feel for a standard for players by who is already up there.  Could we do the same for a non-player?  There is only Walter Brown and Red Auerbach up there as non-players.  My gut says that to come close to making a "Red Auerbach" standard as a non-player, a person would have to do one or more of several things (that may not be possible in the current era):

1) completely revolutionize the way a team is made, a la inventing the idea of 6th man.

2) Coach the team to more consecutive championships than has ever occurred (or likely will) in any professional sport.

3) As GM, build and completely rebuild the roster to create championship winning teams with completely different cores in three different decades.

I'd say talk of raising Danny to the rafters is a little premature.  Putting one title-level core together one time doesn't cut it, even when coupled with being a solid starting-caliber role player on two title teams.  

If he rebuilds the team and banners are raised post-KG, then the discussion is warranted.

If he rebuilds the team and yet More Banners are raised post-Rondo era, then I'd probably sew the thing together myself.

The thing is, you can't strictly look at Danny as a "non-player".  He was a contributor on two title teams, and played in two additional Finals with the Celts.

What you're getting is the Danny combo package.  Danny has contributed to three title teams (minimum).  To me, that's enough to earn enshrinement.

The thing is, if he bungles the rebuilding post-KG and we have a situate with Rondo similar to Wade in Miami (not enough horses to get past the first round, wondering whether he'll demand a trade or leave via FA), then Danny should quite likely be "hung" from the rafters.

But the whole package involves him as a player:  a shooting specialist/hustle guy that was lucky enough to play next to FOUR hall-of-famers.  The list of players with his level of talent (as a celtic) is quite long; he wasn't a special player by any means any more than Jim Paxson was to his teams, or JJ Reddick is to his.  So, I'd probably consider his playing years as "Celtic years of service" but riding the coattails of true legends.

Heck, he didn't even start in '84, and only averaged 5 points per game that year (5.4 during the season, and 4.8 in the playoffs).  To say he was key to that team's success just isn't true.

He joined the starting lineup after Gerald Henderson was traded, but to give him much credit as a player for the '86 title is a farce as well.  There were FIVE hall of fame players on that '86 team, making him not even one of the five best players on the team, even though he started.

[Fan from VT]

Granted Ainge gets some bonus points for being a former player on the Celtics, but does anyone know what non-players (GM types) are retired by other teams? I kind of get the sense the C's in general have lower standards for retiring numbers than do other teams.

[BballTim]

Well, we probably agree that strictly as a player, #44 doesn't get retired in honor of Danny Ainge.  Right?

As a GM, he's put together exactly one title-level core that will hopefully win at least two, hopefully 3+ banners.

Funny that nobody has yet posted any sort of standard or criteria for getting up to the rafters as a non-player?  We can sort of get a feel for a standard for players by who is already up there.  Could we do the same for a non-player?  There is only Walter Brown and Red Auerbach up there as non-players.  My gut says that to come close to making a "Red Auerbach" standard as a non-player, a person would have to do one or more of several things (that may not be possible in the current era):

1) completely revolutionize the way a team is made, a la inventing the idea of 6th man.

2) Coach the team to more consecutive championships than has ever occurred (or likely will) in any professional sport.

3) As GM, build and completely rebuild the roster to create championship winning teams with completely different cores in three different decades.

I'd say talk of raising Danny to the rafters is a little premature.  Putting one title-level core together one time doesn't cut it, even when coupled with being a solid starting-caliber role player on two title teams. 

If he rebuilds the team and banners are raised post-KG, then the discussion is warranted.

If he rebuilds the team and yet More Banners are raised post-Rondo era, then I'd probably sew the thing together myself.

The thing is, you can't strictly look at Danny as a "non-player".  He was a contributor on two title teams, and played in two additional Finals with the Celts.

What you're getting is the Danny combo package.  Danny has contributed to three title teams (minimum).  To me, that's enough to earn enshrinement.

The thing is, if he bungles the rebuilding post-KG and we have a situate with Rondo similar to Wade in Miami (not enough horses to get past the first round, wondering whether he'll demand a trade or leave via FA), then Danny should quite likely be "hung" from the rafters.

But the whole package involves him as a player:  a shooting specialist/hustle guy that was lucky enough to play next to FOUR hall-of-famers.  The list of players with his level of talent (as a celtic) is quite long; he wasn't a special player by any means any more than Jim Paxson was to his teams, or JJ Reddick is to his.  So, I'd probably consider his playing years as "Celtic years of service" but riding the coattails of true legends.

Heck, he didn't even start in '84.

  Ainge was a far superior player to Paxson or Reddick.

[More Banners]

 Ainge was a far superior player to Paxson or Reddick.

Whoa...Jim Paxson was averaging 20+ points over the season and playoffs for Portland in back to back seasons (83/84) while Danny Boy was coming off of our bench to drop 5 per game.

There's a certain warm, fuzzy feeling about the '80's teams' success that is transferring to Danny, even though he doesn't really deserve it for his contributions.