Tag: chris ford

The NBA adopts the 3-point line: the ‘gimmick’ that changed the sport forever

The Celtics, of course, are a part of that story.

Former Boston Celtics shooting guard Chris Ford shot the very first one in the history of the NBA in the debut game of Celtics Hall of Fame small forward Larry Bird. Bird himself would hit the first one in an All-Star game and terrorized opponents in the early years of the shooting contest, created to showcase what was in many corners seen as a tacky novelty.

To those of you confused about what it is we are speaking, we of course mean the league’s adoption of the now-iconic 3-point shot. Which has not only moved off of being seen as some sort of wacky addition to the sport but an absolutely integral part of it.

And while even now it still has its critics, the origin and early history of the 3-ball remain relatively under-discussed by fans of the modern game.

To help remedy that, the folks over at The Score put together this clip detailing everything you need to know about the trey in the NBA.

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On this day: Chris Ford fired; Todd Mundt, Dave Popson born

On this day in 1995, Boston Celtics head coach Chris Ford was fired, and big men Todd Mundt and Dave Popson were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics fired their head coach Chris Ford in 1995. Ford had been with the team first as a player and later as part of the coaching staff since 1978, when he was traded from the Detroit Pistons as a player for Earl Tatum.

He would play for the Celtics for four seasons before retiring and returning to the franchise as an assistant coach in 1983. Ford would be elevated to the role of head coach in 1990, replacing then-head coach Jimmy Rodgers after a first-round playoff exit the season prior. Ford would amass a 222-188 regular-season record and a 13-16 postseason record with Boston.

Good for .541 and .448 winning percentages, respectively.

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Every Boston Celtics head coach of an All-Star game in NBA history

A total of seven Celtics coaches have earned the right to coach the All-Star game by owning the East’s best record that season.

About a year ago, the Boston Celtics were poised to make history by sending the first interim coach to helm the NBA’s 2023 All-Star Game, which is why the Celtics will not be having Mazzulla coaching the 2024 All-Star Game.

The rules prohibit repeat performances in that role, sending the nod to a Boston coaching alumnus in Doc Rivers (now with the Milwaukee Bucks) instead, who coached the game himself as Celtics head coach in 2008. With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the Boston alumni who have done the same over the course of the event’s long history. A total of seven Celtics coaches have earned the right to coach the All-Star game by owning the East’s best record that season.

Let’s take a look at who they were and the seasons that it happened in.

On this day: Chris Ford, Tony Allen, Larry Robinson born

On this day, Boston Celtics Larry Robinson, Chris Ford, and Tony Allen were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics guard and assistant coach Chris Ford was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey back in 1949. Ford began his pro career in basketball with longtime Boston rival, the Detroit Pistons, after playing his college ball at Villanova.

The Atlantic City native was traded to the Celts in exchange for Earl Tatum in 1978 in what would be the final stop of his career as a player. Ford never left Boston again as a player, playing for the franchise over the last four seasons in the league before making the leap to the other side of the clipboard.

He remained with the team for four more years as an assistant and eventual coach, winning championships with the Celtics in 1981 as a player, and in 1984 and 86 as an assistant coach.

On this day: Bradley debuts; Ford makes 1st 4-point play; Naulls passes

On this day, Avery Bradley debuted for the team, Chris Ford made the first 3-point play in team history, and Willie Naulls left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, guard Avery Bradley played his first game for the storied franchise in 2010. An alum of the University of Texas, the Tacoma, Washington native would be picked up by the Celtics with the 19th overall in the 2010 NBA draft.

The 6-foot-3 combo guard would play his inaugural minutes for the ball club in a 99-76 blowout of the Atlanta Hawks in the Celtics’ 14th game of the season, the Washingtonian scoring 2 points, a rebound, an assist, and a steal to go with 2 turnovers in his first game as a Celtic.

Bradley managed that over 6 minutes and 11 seconds of playing time, missing both his field-goal attempts but converting both of his two attempts from the free-throw line.

On this day: Cowens, Langford born; Ford cut; Green, Swain, Jones debut; Sharman passes

On this day in Celtics history, Dave Cowens and Romeo Langford were born, Chris Ford was cut, a number of players made their debut and Bill Sharman left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, in Newport, Kentucky, Celtics champion center Dave Cowens was born in 1948. Cowens played collegiately with the Florida State Seminoles and would be taken by the Celtics fourth overall in the 1970 NBA draft on the advice of big man legend Bill Russell despite the fact that the Florida State product stood only 6-foot-9.

It didn’t matter much that he was undersized, as he averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds a game in his rookie season, earning All-Rookie First Team honors in the process. It’s a good thing the Celtics took Russell’s endorsement to heart.

Cowens would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the team, proving Russell right and then some.

On this day: Ford trade; Minor signs; Hankinson, Stacom, McDonald, Maxwell, Downing debuts; Mangurian passes

On this day in Celtics history, Boston traded for Chris Ford, former owner Harry Mangurian passed and several players debuted for the team.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, shooting guard Chris Ford was traded to the team from the Detroit Pistons with draft assets for Earl Tatum in 1978. Ford, a product of the Villanova Wildcats, was taken by the Pistons with the 17th overall pick of the 1972 NBA draft after spending four seasons with his college alma mater.

He played for Detroit for seven seasons before he was dealt to the Celtics, developing a long-range shot he would eventually use to sink the first 3-pointer in NBA history, even if it wasn’t used anywhere near as often as it is today.

In a neat wrinkle of history, the 3 came in the same game Boston icon Larry Bird made his NBA debut in 1979.

On this day: Celtics icon Larry Bird’s debut; first-ever NBA 3-pointer

On this day, Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird played his first game with the team in 1979, which also happened to be the debut of the first 3-pointer.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise debuted their highly-regarded new prospect drafted the summer prior out of Indiana State, a Hick from French Lick, Indiana — Larry Bird. Larry Legend’s first game in the NBA came against the Houston Rockets, and fittingly happened to also be the night of the first-ever recorded 3-point field goal in league history as Celtics shooting guard Chris Ford connected from deep in Bird’s debut.

Bird, a native of West Baden Springs, Indiana, grew up in nearby French Lick (thus the nickname), and played collegiately briefly at Indiana University before transferring to Indiana State.

This wrinkle made him draft-eligible in what was his junior season at Indiana State.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 42

Today’s installment focuses on the 14 players who wore No. 42 over the years as of Aug. 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 played in them, their unretired jersey numbers pack in 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 14 players who wore No. 42 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

On this day: 1984 championship; hire Ford as coach; Seminoff, Hoefer pass

On this day, the Boston Celtics won their 15th championship against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 and hired former player Chris Ford as coach in 1990.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team won their 15th championship with a 111-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 1984 NBA Finals, despite a push that got Los Angeles within three points late in the final frame.

Forward Cedric Maxwell led Boston with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, point guard Dennis Johnson added 22 points and 6 boards, forward Larry Bird 20 points, and 12 rebounds, and center Robert Parish 14 points and 16 rebounds. Shooting guard Danny Ainge and forward Kevin McHale chipped in 10 points each off the bench.

Bird would be named Finals Most Valuable Player of the eighth Finals meeting between the two teams, all of which had been won by Boston. It was also the first title the Celtics had won at home since 1966.