On this day in Boston Celtics history, shooting guard Bill Sharman was dealt to the Celtics in 1951 from the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons, who in turn had picked up Sharman early in the year in a dispersal draft from the now-defunct Washington Capitals.
Sharman, a native of Abilene, Texas, had played his college ball with the University of Southern California before being drafted by the Capitals in 1950 with the 17th overall pick of that year’s draft. Sharman would go on to play ten seasons for Boston, winning four championships and being elected to eight All-Star games (winning All-Star MVP in 1955) and seven All-NBA teams over that stretch.
He would retire as a player in 1961 to go into coaching and would become the first person in North American sports history to win titles as a player, coach, and executive.