On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtic small forward Justin Ray “J.R.” Giddens came into this world in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1985.
Giddens would play his NCAA basketball as a Jayhawk under legendary collegiate head coach Roy Williams at the University of Kansas, but would later transfer to the University of New Mexico after getting into a serious altercation at Kansas. He would be picked up by the Celtics out of New Mexico with the 30th overall pick of the 2008 NBA draft but got little playing time on the defending champion’s roster given their designs on a repeat.
Instead, Giddens spent most of his time with the Utah Flash in the NBA’s D League (as the G League was then known).