On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtic forward Francis H. “Mo” Mahoney made his debut for the team in an 87-80 win over the (then) Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors at the old Boston Garden in 1953.
Mahoney was picked up of Rhode Island’s Brown University by the Celtics in the 1950 NBA draft but spent the next two years serving in the US armed forces in the Korean War before finally playing his first game for the team that drafted him, three years after the fact. The Brooklyn native scored a single point and picked as many fouls in his debut with the Celtics.
He would go on to average 2 points and 1.2 rebounds per game over 6 games with the franchise.