Celtics president of basketball Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack while in Milwaukee for Boston’s second round playoff series against the Bucks, the Celtics said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. He received immediate medical attention and is expected to make a full recovery. He will return to Boston shortly. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Ainge is expected to return home to Boston on Thursday evening, and is already up and moving around and “feeling much better.” Ainge previously suffered a minor heart attack in April of 2009 after dealing with chest pains that caused him to miss the Celtics regular season finale that year.
Ainge is expected to return home this evening and is active, walking around today and feeling much better, sources say. Thoughts and wishes with him. https://t.co/rpynEs3BRb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 2, 2019
The best of seven series between the top seeded Bucks and the third seeded Celtics shifts back to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night. The Celtics shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo and took Game 1 decisively before the Bucks punched back and evened the series with a 21-point win in Game 2. It remains to be seen whether Ainge will take his regular seat behind the hoop in Boston to watch Game 3. The NBA community is wishing Ainge a speedy recovery as Boston attempts to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight season.
