Former Boston Celtics normal supervisor Danny Ainge pushed for Marcus Good’s arrival to the group.
The Los Angeles Lakers lately made headlines for signing Marcus Good to a two-year, $11 million deal.
A key cause behind the information sending shockwaves by means of the NBA neighborhood was resulting from Good’s earlier ties with the Boston Celtics.
In spite of everything, Good is a part of an elusive checklist that includes 42 NBA gamers who’ve donned the jerseys of each iconic franchises. Placing his transfer to the Lakers on the again burner, let’s concentrate on how Good ended up on the Celtics.
Previous to being the No. 6 total decide within the 2014 NBA Draft, Good spent two seasons within the NCAA with Oklahoma State.
Apparently that’s when Good caught the attention of former Celtics normal supervisor Danny Ainge. In actual fact, immediately, Ainge made the choice to draft Good.
“I would like him on my staff. I don’t need to play in opposition to him. I actually appreciated how he performed. Like greater than what he did as a basketball participant, however what he was as a competitor,” Ainge instructed Celtics.com in 2018.
Ainge added: “He was robust and good. I simply liked watching him play.”
Regardless that Ainge felt Good had room to develop as a basketball participant, his competitiveness made him push for him.
Effectively, it turned out to be a terrific determination as Good loved a nine-year stint in Boston, together with successful the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months award.
Following his transfer to the Lakers, Good is conscious of the potential backlash he might obtain from Celtics followers. In spite of everything, many will view it as a betrayal.
However Good has at all times thought effectively of the Celtics and their fanbase. It was evident from what he mentioned in the identical 2018 interview.
“I really like this metropolis. I grew up right here, I’ve been right here for some time. I used to be in Dallas for a sure period of time, after which I went off to school, however that is the place I reside – that is my dwelling.
“So, for me to say that I’m a Bostonian, it’s one thing meaning rather a lot as a result of Boston has embraced me as a person, as a participant, and for a lot extra,” Good acknowledged.
He concluded: “I really like Boston, and Boston loves me.”
Whereas these had been Good’s ideas in 2018, the Celtics primarily double-crossed him when he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in the summertime of 2023.