Tag: arnie risen

On this day: Henry Walker, Arnie Risen, Kenny and Jerome Anderson born; Kenny Rollins passes

On this day, former Celtics Henry Walker, Arnie Risen, and Jerome, and Kenny Anderson (no relation) were born, and Kenny Rollins passed away.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Boston alumnus point guard Kenny Anderson was born in Queens, New York in 1970. Anderson was a highly sought-after recruit as a teenager and would play his college ball with Georgia Tech, where he would earn two consecutive All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors among several others.

He was taken with the second overall pick of the 1991 NBA draft by the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, where he would play five seasons before being dealt to the Charlotte Hornets in January of 1996. He would sign with the Portland Trail Blazers at the end of that season as a free agent, who would later deal him to the Toronto Raptors in 1998.

Anderson would finally find his way to Boston when the Raps dealt him to the Celtics five days later with Popeye Jones and Žan Tabak for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers, and John Thomas.

How many Boston Celtics are in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame?

No team in NBA history has produced more. How many can you name?

With Boston Celtics Hall of Fame Paul Pierce officially part of the incoming 2021 class and big man Kevin Garnett getting his formal induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in May 2021 — nearly a year after getting the nod due to the pandemic — all three members of the so-called “new Big Three” of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen have been ensconced in what serves as the Valhalla of basketball.

But they are far from the only Celtics so honored. In fact, there is a veritable host of Boston legends populating the Hoop Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, just a short drive away from the NBA’s titletown. The Celtics have more players than any other team in league history.

Let’s take a look at the 40 Celtics who have been honored with a Hall of Fame induction.

Complete list of Boston Celtics in the Basketball Hall of Fame

Celtics Wire celebrates the 48 members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with ties to the Boston Celtics franchise.

The Boston Celtics are one of the bedrock franchises in professional sports. Legends such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett dazzled fans with their athletic exploits and won the NBA championship in Boston.

A couple of hours down the Mass Pike in Springfield, no fewer than four dozen players, coaches, and contributors with ties to the Celtics franchise have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame over the years, spanning the decades from the first years of the storied ball club’s existence up to the team’s last era of contention.

Below, Celtics Wire celebrates the 49 members of the Hall of Fame with Celtics connections in a photo gallery.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 19

Today’s installment focuses on the six players who wore No. 19 over the years as of September 2023.

The Boston Celtics have more retired jerseys than any other team in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean the rest of their jerseys have little history of interest tied to them.

In fact, with 17 titles to their name and decades of competitive basketball, their unretired jersey numbers pack some of the most history not hanging from the rafters of any team in the league. To that end, we have launched our accounting of that history with every player in every jersey worn by more than one Celtics player in the storied franchise’s history accounted for.

Today’s installment focuses on the six players who wore No. 19 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Shaq signs, Robert Parish leaves, Tiny Archibald trade; Arnie Risen passes

On this date in Boston Celtics history, the team added Shaquille O’Neal and Nate Archibald but lost Robert Parish in free agency.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team signed Hall of Fame big man Shaquille “Shaq” Rashaun O’Neal to the final stint of his storied career.  The Newark, New Jersey native was enticed by the principal owner of the Celtics Wyc Grousbeck, who used O’Neal’s rivalry with Kobe Bryant over the number of banners each had won to convince him to sign with Boston.

After securing head coach Doc Rivers’ approval on an assurance there would be no locker room subterfuge as had followed Shaq in the past. O’Neal signed a two-year minimum deal worth $2.8 million on this date on this date in 2010.

Shaq’s tenure as a Celtic did not result in a ring for him, with injury to him and several teammates derailing a Finals run and ultimately ending in his retirement from the sport at the end of the 2010-11 season.