Danny Ainge joined Toucher and Rich for his weekly interview, and dished on Larry, Big Baby, the Warriors and, of course, the Celtics.
On Larry Bird talking trash to teammates:
I was like a little brother getting picked on all the time. I think Larry mostly just talked trash just to motivate himself. The biggest trash talk [target] was Scott Wedman. You know, when we acquired Wedman he was making more money than Larry and that didn’t sit well with Larry. He would tell him how much he was going to abuse him at practice that day.
On KG making Big Baby cry:
KG was trying to mentor Big Baby, but you know it didn’t take Big Baby a lot to cry. There’s a reason why he has that nickname and why he still has that nickname. Big Baby is a good kid, he’s just very, very emotional.
…And Big Baby’s eating habits:
I saw a video of Big Baby once eating a box of Coco Puffs out of a salad bowl with a salad spoon.
On Marcus Smart’s injury timeline:
Marcus is coming along really well. It’s just hard to tell a timeframe. He’s not ready to play yet. He’s at least a week away. He’ll be fine.
On beating the Warriors
You gotta hope that they miss some. We’ve got to make shots and take really good care of the ball. They’re unbelievable in transition. At least in half-court you can match up 5 on 5 and contest shots. We need good shot selection.
The Celtics’ recent play:
I thought that the New Orleans game was our best consistent effort. New Orleans really needed that game. They have all their guys back healthy and they’ve been playing well. We were not sharp last night. We were not our best selves, but our defense and rebounding was good. That was a really good win when you don’t play your best.
On starters & rotations
I’m not sure that [starting] really matters. What really matters is getting through a 48 minute game with the best lineups and the best match ups. We really need all of [the guards] to get through an 82 game season.
Fan interest in the Warriors game
It definitely is a big game, and there are some fans that are the front runner fans that all want to see Golden State play. I stick with the people that are diehard Celtics fans that want to be with us every night.
Full interview here
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