Tag: Bob Cousy

On this day: Jo Jo White drafted, Bob Cousy dishes NBA-record 19 assists; Zaid Abdul-Aziz born

On this day, Boston Celtics Hall of Fame point guard Jo Jo White was drafted, and legendary Celtics floor general Bob Cousy made an NBA-record 19 assists.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the franchise drafted Hall of Fame point guard Jo Jo White in the 1969 NBA draft out of the University of Kansas with the ninth overall pick.

White would play 10 seasons with the Celtics, winning two NBA championships with Boston in 1974 and 1976, and would win a Finals MVP in 1976. The former Jayhawk was elected to seven All-Star games during his tenure with the Celtics and two All-NBA teams among many other honors. The St. Louis native would play in 488 consecutive games finally derailed by injury in the 1977-78 season, setting a franchise record in the process.

He never recovered to be a high-level player afterward, and was traded to the Golden State Warriors for a 1979 first-round draft pick.

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Every Boston Celtics All-Star for each season the game was played

Every single Boston Celtics All-Star in franchise history.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set to kick off in Indianapolis, Indiana. A pair of Boston Celtics will be part of the action for the third year in a row as Jayson Tatum plays as a starter and Jaylen Brown a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Tatum and Brown join a long list of Celtics stars who have participated in the event, now entering its 73rd year of existence, which actually got its start in the old Boston Garden. Initially created to improve the image of professional basketball after a point-shaving scandal in NCAA ball besmirched the sport in the eyes of the public, the event has taken on a life of its own as one of the league’s most anticipated events.

Let’s take a look at all the Celtics who have taken part.

On this day: Big man Travis Knight traded; Cousy wins All-Star MVP

On this day in Celtics history, Boston traded Travis Knight to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Bob Cousy won MVP of the 1954 All-Star Game.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics center Travis Knight was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for big man Tony Battie. Knight was picked up with the 29th overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls after an outstanding career at the University of Connecticut,

Knight was soon renounced by the Bulls, who did not want to give him a three-year deal at that time. He then signed with the Lakers on a one-year deal, which he parlayed into an appearance in the 1997 Rookie All-Star Game, and later, a seven-year deal with Boston under new Coach and General Manager Rick Pitino.

Knight understood he was only cut out to be a role player as a pro, and implied he’d made a deal he regretted regarding playing for coach Pitino.

On this day: Boston legend Tommy Heinsohn scores 45 on Christmas Day

It is the most scored by a Celtics player on that day, and Tommy’s career-high.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics power forward Tommy Heinsohn scored 45 points in the Celtics’ 127-122 win over the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, the Philadelphia 76ers) on the road on Christmas Day 1961.

It remains the record for points scored on any game played on Christmas by a Celtic player (point guards Kyrie Irving and Bob Cousy hold the next two highest scores on that day with 40 and 35 points, respectively). The yuletide offensive outburst was also the most points scored by the iconic power forward in any game of his storied career.

The Holy Cross alumnus went on to win his fifth title with the team later that season, but he played a game for the ages that holiday tilt first.

On this day: Len Bias, Garfield Smith, Sam Cassell born; Bob Cousy traded

On this day, Celtics Len Bias, Garfield Smith, and Sam Cassell — while Boston icon Bob Cousy had his rights traded to the Cincinnati Royals.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Len Bias was born in Landover, Maryland in 1963. Bias would attend his hometown University of Maryland after graduating high school, where he would rise to national attention with the Terrapins.

He would be taken by the Celtics with the second overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft, only to have tragedy follow soon after. To celebrate his good fortune of landing with the storied franchise, the former Terrapin returned to the University of Maryland campus to celebrate his ascent to a contending team in the NBA with several of his friends.

Bias would have a seizure and collapse after using cocaine, a cardiac arrhythmia triggered by the use of the drug that eventually killed him. His unexpected passing is one of the great tragedies of Celtics and NBA history — rest in peace.

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On this day: Auerbach, Cousy, Cooper, Rondo, Fox, Walker debut with Celtics

On this day, Celtics greats Red Auerbach, Bob Cousy, Chuck Cooper, Rajon Rondo, Rick Fox, and Antoine Walker all debuted for Boston.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame coach and general manager Arnold “Red” Auerbach coached his first regular-season game with the storied franchise. Recently hired by the team’s owner Walter Brown on the advice of local sports journalists after stints coaching with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now, Atlanta Hawks), the defunct Washington Capitols NBA franchise, and — as an assistant coach at the college level — the Duke Blue Devils.

The game was thankfully not auspicious for the Boston icon’s future with the team in the coming years, with Auerbach’s Celtics falling 107-84 to the (then) Fort Wayne (Indiana) Pistons (who are now based in Detroit).

Auerbach was not the only Celtics legend making his debut that day.

On this day: Brown, Poirier, Fall, Vincent debut; Gavitt, Dickey born; Mangurian passes; Cousy, Macauley jerseys retired

On this day, a number of Celtics debuted, former owner Harry Mangurian passed away, and Dave Gavitt was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, All-Star forward Jaylen Brown played his first game for the team in 2016, fittingly a 122-117 win over the Brooklyn Nets, the team who had dealt Boston the draft pick that would be used to select him.

The former Cal-Berkeley standout put up 9 points, 2 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and two blocks, with one turnover and two fouls in 19 minutes and 27 seconds of floor time for his debut performance with the Celtics. He shot 3-of-4 from the free-throw line and hit three of his four field goal attempts as well.

Perhaps surprisingly, Brown did not attempt a 3-point shot in his inaugural game in the association.

Who are the Boston Celtics’ top-10 all-time leaders in postseason free throws?

Make your guesses, then scroll down to see how you did.

In his historic, 50-point masterpiece against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of the 2021 Eastern Conference first-round series, All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics likely would not have won the game had the budding superstar not gotten to the line 15 times, converting 13.

But the St. Louis native had a long way to go to crack the franchise’s top ten in free throws made in the postseason given the long and storied history of the Celtics in the playoffs, making the list in 2023; you sink a lot of shots at the charity stripe when you win 17 banners, after all.

Who are the 10 most accomplished sinkers of free throws in the playoffs for Boston, then? Make your guesses, then scroll down to see how you did.

On this day: Gerald Henderson traded; Mel Counts born: Bob Cousy, Ed Macauley jersey ‘retirement’

On this day, Boston traded Gerald Henderson to the Supersonics, Mel Counts was born, and Bob Cousy technically had his jersey retired.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard Jerome McKinley “Gerald” Henderson Sr. — better known to Celtics fans as Gerald Henderson — was traded to the Seattle Supersonics for the draft pick that would be used to select forward Len Bias in 1986.

Henderson was an alum of Virginia Commonwealth University who was selected 64th overall in the 1978 NBA draft (there were several more rounds in that era) by the San Antonio Spurs but did not make the team, cut before the start of the season. He would play a stint with the Tucson Gunners of the Western Basketball Association (WBA) before joining the Celtics as a free agent in 1979.

He would play for the team for parts of five seasons.

How many of the NBA’s official 50 greatest in 1996 were Boston Celtics?

In 1996, the NBA released a list of its 50 greatest players up to that year to celebrate as many years of play as a league. Can you guess how many were Celtics? Better yet, who they were?

In 1996, the NBA decided to assemble a panel of 50 players, media members, and team representatives in total to select the 50 greatest players of the league’s first 50 years on the anniversary of the NBA’s first season of 1946-47.

The league again plans to assemble a similar list to honor the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2021, but before we begin to recount which alumni of the Boston Celtics were added to the list, let’s take a look at the old one. Dominated by names once populating the championship eras of the team from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, a total of 14 of the NBA’s 50 greatest players once donned the green and white.

Let’s review who made the cut, and when they were Celtics.