On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard Arthur Lemarcus “Marcus” Banks III was born in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1981. Better known to fans of the Celtics as Marcus Banks, the former Boston floor general played his basketball at the NCAA level with the University of Nevada – Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels, where he would be named Co-Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
Banks would be taken with the 13th overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies but would be dealt to the Celtics in a draft-night deal that sent him and future champion Boston center Kendrick Perkins to the Celtics in exchange for Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones.
The Nevada native would nearly be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004 in a deal that would have sent famed guard Gary Payton to Boston.