On this day, former Boston Celtics big man Hank Beenders was born in Haarlem, Netherlands in 1916.
Beenders would emigrate to the U.S. at age eight, and won an NIT championship with Long Island University in 1942 before joining the Providence Steamrollers as one of the first international players of the the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a precursor league to the NBA.
He would be traded to the then-Philadelphia Warriors in 1948, who would turn around and deal him to the Celtics in that same year with center Chick Halbert for big man Ed Sadowski.
The Haarlem native would play just 8 games for Boston in 1948-49, his last stop in the BAA.
.@encestando Hank Beenders of @Celtics, @Warriors, Crescents, Steamrollers & Hurricanes http://t.co/wnwFCRuEIG pic.twitter.com/zWI2PU7HaC
— Folk's Cards (@folkscards) October 30, 2014
He averaged 2.4 points and 0.4 assists per games — rebounds were not yet being recorded.