NBA fans had strong reactions on Monday as the Utah Jazz hired ‘nepo baby‘ Austin Ainge as their president of basketball operations.
Ainge, the son of Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, got his start in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, where Danny ran basketball operations from 2003 to 2021.
And while Austin spent 14 years in Boston’s front office and six as their assistant general manager, plenty of fans rolled their eyes at his promotion.
‘The N in NBA stands for nepo,’ one cracked.
‘I’m sure this was an exhaustive search,’ said Fox Sports host Kevin Wildes.
‘Nobody crying nepotism huh? Only when it’s LeBron James and his kids,’ a third added, referring to James’ eldest son Bronny joining his dad on the Lakers.
Danny Ainge (left) and his son Austin, seen in 2022, will work together on the Utah Jazz
Some fans believed the Ainges were not receiving the same criticism as LeBron and Bronny James did
In fact, ESPN’s Shams Charania did not even mention who Austin’s father was when reporting the news on X – something fans took notice of as well.
‘Maybe you forget it so i’ll kindly remind you: he’s danny son. You are a disgrace for journalism. Disinformation on steroid,’ one said.
And another asked:Â ‘no mention of who his father is?’
In a subsequent story for ESPN, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith actually said that he led the hiring process for the position and later informed the elder Ainge that he would be hiring his son.
Smith called Austin ‘the next, young executive stud’ and said he would not be on the market for much longer.
‘As I look out into the future, there’s no one I would rather have run this organization than Austin,’ Smith said.
‘His pedigree, his knowledge and his talent evaluation shined through, working with DA for so long and having the trust of Brad [Stevens] all of these years. Austin has the full capabilities to run our operations – he’s methodical, diligent and just brilliant.’
Bronny’s presence on the Lakers after an underwhelming freshman season at USC in college was a hot-button issue all year, as the likes of Stephen A. Smith criticized the guard being in the NBA.Â
The elder Ainge ran the Celtics’ basketball operations with strong results for nearly 20 years
The 20-year-old did show some progress over the course of the season but only played in 27 games as he split his time with the Lakers’ G-League team.Â
Ainge, 66, briefly retired from basketball after leaving the Celtics before taking the Jazz job six months later.
While he was in Boston, Austin initially got his chance as the head coach for the team’s D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, before moving into the front office in 2011.
The team made seven trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in that span, went to the NBA Finals twice and won the championship last season.Â
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NBA fans fume as Utah Jazz hire ‘nepo baby’ for top exec job