Danny Ainge made a name for himself back when he was in the Boston Celtics' front office. He assembled the team that won a title back in 2008 and played a big part in constructing the team that won another last year.
Since stepping down with the Celtics in 2021, Ainge has been employed with the Utah Jazz for almost three years now. The Jazz have been rebuilding since Ainge joined them, and the team wasted no time getting to work in 2025.
On Sunday, ESPN's Shams Charania confirmed that the Jazz have traded Collin Sexton and a second-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Jusuf Nurkic. The Jazz are rebuilding and have young guards, so trading Sexton made sense. However, this trade did not get a warm reception on the Jazz's end.
Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge
Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge
© Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Utah was criticized for having to attach an asset with Sexton, who is younger than Nurkic and is coming off a season where he averaged 18.4 points. Nurkic, by contrast, is coming off a season where he averaged 8.9 points, which is a far cry from what he averaged at his peak when he was fully healthy in Portland, averaging 15.6.
Because of this, many said Ainge should lose his job for making this trade. To be fair, Ainge has never called the shots in Utah, as he's their CEO. His son, Austin, is the President of Basketball Operations. Nonetheless, fans demanded that Danny lose his job.
"Fire Danny ainge," one fan demanded.
"Jazz need to fire Danny Ainge it’s that time," another wrote.
"What Danny Ainge is doing to Utah should get him fired," one declared. "he's so washed lmfaooo"
"Ainge needs to be kicked outta the nba he’s actively destroying the Jazz lol" another claimed.
Others didn't necessarily demand that he lose his job, but still criticized him nonetheless.
"There’s people who still think Danny Ainge is a good GM," one wrote.
"Sexton’s return was nothing? Ainge ain’t the man he used to be," another wrote.
"We gotta stop talking about Danny Ainge like he the boogeyman like he literally just traded a good player and a second rounder for a guy that sucks at the sport," one declared.
Ainge has not brought the same success to Utah that he did to Boston, but it took him five years after the Celtics hired him in 2003 to bring a title to the franchise.