On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics forward Walter Lee McCarty was born in Evansville, Indiana back in 1974. McCarty played collegiately for the University of Kentucky under future Celtics coach and President of Basketball Operations Rick Pitino before being picked up with the 19th overall selection of the 1996 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.
He played 35 games there before being traded to the Celtics with Scott Brooks, Dontae’ Jones, and John Thomas in October 1997 for Chris Mills and draft assets, where he played for a total of eight seasons before being traded to the Phoenix Suns for a 2007 second-round draft pick.
The Kentucky alum would average 5.7 points and 2.8 boards per game in his time in green and white as a player, and would later return to serve as an assistant coach with Boston from 2013 to 2018.