Ainge rejects criticism of Stevens, says his job is to fix ‘real’ issues with team

He did hint change is coming of some sort in the offseason, however.

If there’s anything that Boston Celtics fans can agree on, it’s that change — perhaps quite a bit of it — is needed with the team after a brutal underachieving season has become an undeniable reality in 2020-21.

Calls for changes to more than the roster have even begun to percolate, with chants in the arena and online for Head Coach Brad Stevens job becoming an increasingly popular response to the team’s puzzling inability to put things together on the court this season. As he has done consistently this season, Team President Danny Ainge defended his coach regarding such criticisms without entirely absolving Stevens — or himself — of blame, again doing so in his usual weekly appearance on the popular New England Sports Radio Show “Toucher & Rich“.

Asked if it would be acceptable to run the same squad back next season, Ainge replied, “I don’t really know what you mean by acceptable.”