On the same day in 1976, former Boston Celtics small forward Ron Mercer was born in Nashville, Tennessee in an interesting coincidence.
He would play for the Celtics after being drafted by them out of the University of Kentucky with the 6th overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft.
It was there he played under Rick Pitino, now his head coach for Boston after having left Kentucky that same summer to join the team as head coach and president of basketball operations.
Mercer played two seasons for the Celtics before being traded along with Popeye Jones and Dwayne Schintzius to the Denver Nuggets for Danny Fortson, Eric Williams, Eric Washington and draft assets.
He averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over his two seasons with Boston.