Even before Friday's official announcement, before he tried (unsuccessfully) to separate Red Auerbach's cigar from its matches, Danny Ainge was wearing a Celtic warmup jacket all around town. ''He's bleeding green, even before the press conference,'' marveled chief executive Wyc Grousbeck.

For those who've labored on Walter Brown's mismatched parquet, Hibernian hemophilia seems to be a lifetime condition.

''As I've gone on to play on great teams in Portland and Phoenix with great players,'' Ainge mused, upon returning to Boston, ''it's amazing to me as I've traveled around the country that I'm still associated as being a Celtic.''