Danny Ainge on Isiah Thomas Comparing Celtics Walking Off to Pistons Walking Off: “I Don’t Think it’s a Fair Comparison”

Danny Ainge was a guest on Zach Lowe’s podcast on Thursday in which the main topic of discussion was Ainge’s involvement in ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

In the documentary, legendary point guard Isiah Thomas excused the Pistons walking off the floor before the game was over against the Bulls in 1991 by saying the Celtics did the same thing to them three years earlier. “The Boston Celtics were walking off during the game… That’s how they left the floor and to us, that was okay… During that period of time, [shaking hands] is just not how it was passed. When you lost, you left the floor.”

Ainge was asked about Thomas’ comments and whether or not he thought they were fair. “I don’t think it’s a fair comparison because there was no plan. We had never done that before to any team… It had simply to do with that it was such a long walk back to the tunnel in Detroit and we left before the buzzer sounded just for our own safety.”

Lowe explained that the circumstances were a little different for Boston since they were in Detroit and there were fans and photographers already storming the court. Ainge concluded his comments by saying, “I don’t think it was close to being the same [as what Detroit did to Chicago].”

Photo: (Stan Grossfeld – Boston Globe)