Wyc Grousbeck Details Celtics' Front-Office Transition

In the immediate aftermath of a disappointing 2020-21 season that ended with a first-round exit courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets came the stunning announcement that Danny Ainge would no longer be the president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics.

It's a title he held since 2003 and a role in which he assembled the franchise's last title-winning team, pairing Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, who led the Celtics to Banner 17 in 2008.

But evidently, it was time for Ainge to move on after spending most of his basketball career in Boston, including his first eight NBA seasons, helping the organization lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy twice.

His replacement? Brad Stevens, a development perhaps even more shocking.

But since transitioning from being the Celtics' head coach, Stevens has quickly taken to his new role, making one shrewd move after another and proving he isn't afraid to take big swings.

He traded the team's first-round pick in three straight years to surround Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with veterans like Malcolm Brogdon, who could help their championship push.

He brought back Al Horford, won the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes, and made the painful decision to part with Marcus Smart, the heart and soul of the team, to acquire Kristaps Porzingis, who's helped maximize Boston's star wing tandem while providing elements the C's didn't have, like a center who can punish switches.

But given the sudden nature of Ainge's exit and some believing the franchise was treading water, as opposed to moving forward in its title pursuit, a commonly held sentiment is that Celtics' owner Wyc Grousbeck told the former it was time for a change.

However, in an appearance on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI, Grousbeck denied that while detailing how the transition from Ainge to Stevens unfolded.

"I was really bummed about it," expressed Grousbeck. "I wasn't expecting him to come in and say he needed to step down. That was really the way it was. Others thought I had something to do with it, but really, I just received the news he was leaving, and it was not welcomed news by me. Thinking about what to do next, I was talking to Brad about how we would hire a GM ... I looked at him out of nowhere and said, 'Brad, you've got a great basketball mind (and) you've been in the draft the last seven years or so with Danny. You've built teams at Butler, you know personnel, you know everyone in the league; do you wanna think about being the GM?' And he thought of it overnight and came back and said, 'I'm in.'"