Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge — like any hot NBA shooter — is in heat-check mode.
Coming off one of the most successful stretches in post-Larry Bird franchise history — a week that saw the Celtics advance to the semifinals of the NBA playoffs and win the coveted first overall pick in the upcoming draft — Ainge has locked onto a new target: Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s seat in Congress.
Ainge sent a tweet last Thursday encouraging his son, Tanner, to make a bid.
“With vacancy created in the house, I’m encouraging my son Tanner to run. He has the integrity, edu, exp to rep UT in DC. #AingeforCongress?” the Celtics executive wrote.
Ainge’s message did not indicate which political party Ainge backed.
Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, officially announced last Thursday that he would resign from Congress June 30 of this year, setting off a scramble for his seat. And the Ainge family has roots in Utah — Danny Ainge senior played basketball for Brigham Young University before making it to the NBA, and Tanner Ainge lives and works for a consulting firm in Alpine, Utah.
The younger Ainge appears receptive to the suggestion — an active LinkedIn page for Tanner Ainge bills him as “candidate for US House of Representatives (UT-3),” Chaffetz’s seat. And a Twitter account for Ainge has been set up that similarly bills him as a candidate, with glossy pictures of Ainge and his family and a link to an undeveloped “Ainge for Congress” website.
Ainge has yet to officially declare, though the Salt Lake Tribune reported he is considering the bid.