Danny Ainge

American college basketball guard who won the 1981 Wooden Award at BYU and was a rare two-sport professional athlete in basketball and baseball.

Daniel Ray Ainge was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1959. He attended Brigham Young University and became one of the most unique multi-sport collegiate athletes of his era. He won the Wooden Award as the nation's best college basketball player in 1981. He was a two-time WAC Player of the Year and two-time All-American in basketball. Simultaneously, he was a professional baseball player — he played for the Toronto Blue Jays while completing his college career, making him the only active professional baseball player to win a major college basketball player of the year award. His basketball career at BYU produced 18.5 points and 5.1 assists per game across four seasons. Boston Celtics selected him 31st overall in the 1981 NBA Draft. His professional basketball career produced two NBA championships with Boston (1984, 1986) alongside Larry Bird. He later became general manager of the Celtics, building teams that won the 2008 championship. His BYU career was the beginning of an extraordinary multi-dimensional sports career across two professional sports.

Ainge was known as a scrappy, intelligent point guard with excellent court vision and leadership skills. He possessed a deadly outside shot and was particularly clutch in pressure situations. His competitive fire and willingness to do whatever it took to win made him an invaluable floor general.

Ainge helped establish the template for the modern combo guard who could effectively play both point guard and shooting guard positions.

• Wooden Award (1981)
• WAC Player of Year 2x
• All-American 2x
• Two-sport All-American