Danny Ainge on how he landed Kevin Garnett via trade – and avoided losing Paul Pierce

Ainge knows as well as anyone that a fair amount of luck has to be in your corner to win it all.

One could legitimately say that the Boston Celtics almost ended up losing Paul Pierce, a last-second hail-mary that was the trade for fellow Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett setting the stage for Banner 17 where they easily could have had to deal The Truth to another ball club had that deal not come together under former President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge.

Ainge, now serving in a similar role for the Utah Jazz, sat down with the hosts of the Players Tribune “Knuckleheads” podcast to talk about how that fateful trade came together, giving him the title core he needed to hang the first banner won in Boston since he was on the parquet as a player.

But long before the confetti came raining down while Garnett reminded us that anything is possible, Ainge had a promise to Pierce to fulfill.