The Los Angeles Lakers turned their season around with a series of much-needed moves at the NBA Trade Deadline - and the credit for their upturn in fortunes could well be placed at the door of LeBron James’ enemy Danny Ainge.
James and Ainge, the former Boston Celtics player and current Utah Jazz CEO of basketball operations, never faced one another on the court and are over two decades apart in age. However the two have been rivals for some time as their paths intertwined over the last 15 years.
When he worked for the Celtics, Ainge constructed a roster led by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to ultimately defeat James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, doing so in the 2008 and 2010 playoffs. The Celtics team perhaps led James to join the Miami Heat in free agency - and the rivalry deepened from there.
