On this day in Boston Celtics history, Emmette “Em” Bryant (no relation to Kobe, if you are wondering) was traded to the Celtics from the Phoenix Suns in 1968 in exchange for a second-round draft selection for the 1969 NBA draft.
Bryant was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and would play his collegiate basketball at his hometown DePaul with the Blue Demons men’s basketball program. He would play there well enough to garner some national attention, and would be drafted 53rd overall in the seventh round of the 1964 NBA draft by the New York Knicks (there were many more rounds to the annual event in that era).
He would play four seasons with New York before being taken by the Suns in the 1968 expansion draft held to populate their roster and that of the Milwaukee Bucks, two new teams joining the NBA that year.