O’Brien quits Celtics

The Boston Globe is reporting that O’Brien is resigning due to conflicts with director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. The newspaper also reported that assistant coach John Carroll is expected to take over as interim head coach.

O’Brien led the Celtics to consecutive playoff berths after a six-year absence from the postseason. He took over for Rick Pitino on January 8, 2001, compiling an overall mark of 139-119.

Boston is currently in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 22-24 record, but the roster has undergone numerous changes since Ainge’s arrival. Fixture Antoine Walker was sent to Dallas prior to the start of the season in exchange for Raef LaFrentz, who is now out for the season with a knee injury. The Celtics then dealt Eric Williams and Tony Battie to Cleveland in December as part of the six-player trade that brought Ricky Davis to Boston.

The tenuous situation with forward Vin Baker surely hasn’t helped matters. Baker has been suspended twice this season for violating his aftercare program as part of his rehabilitation for alcoholism.

The 51-year-old O’Brien, who signed a two-year contract extension last May when Ainge was first hired, became the Eastern Conference’s longest tenured coach when Byron Scott was fired by the New Jersey Nets Monday. Atlanta’s Terry Stotts will now assume the role of the longest tenured head man in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics finished the 2002-03 season at 44-38, before getting swept by the Nets in the second round of the playoffs. The previous year, O’Brien led Boston to the Eastern Conference finals before falling to New Jersey.

Carroll is in his seventh year as an assistant in Boston and ninth overall in the league. He was a scout with the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic in the two years before joining the Celtics.

Before making his move to the NBA, Carroll was the head coach at Duquesne University, where he led the team to its highest win total (18) in 10 years in the 1994-95 campaign.

Pitino brought O’Brien to the Celtics as an assistant coach for the 1997-98 campaign after he had spent three years as an associate coach under Pitino at the University of Kentucky.

O’Brien served as the head coach at the University of Dayton from 1989-94 and led the Flyers to the MCC Tournament championship in his first season at the school. Prior to coaching at Dayton, O’Brien also served as an assistant to Pitino with the NBA’s New York Knicks.

As a player, O’Brien was a three-year starter at Saint Joseph’s University and led the team to an NIT appearance in 1972 and NCAA Tournament berths in 1973 and ’74.

He was selected to the Saint Joseph’s Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Big Five Hall of Fame in 1981.