On this day in Boston Celtics history, Joseph “Joe” Alexander Mullaney was born in the city of Flushing, Long Island, New York in 1924. An alumnus of the College of the Holy Cross of Worcester, Massachusetts, he was a member of the 1947 NCAA title team that also featured Bob Cousy.
Mullaney was selected 23rd in the 1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league to the NBA, which formed in 1950) draft. The New Yorker played just 37 games for Boston in the 1949-50 season, averaging 0.8 points and 1.4 assists per game.
Mullaney moved on to a career in the FBI before returning to the sport later in life as a coach.