On this day in Celtics history, Dave Cowens stepped away from the team for a time, Kendrick Perkins and Gene Conely were born, and Chuck Connors left us.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame big man Dave Cowens took a leave of absence from the team after several days of trying to get permission from team owner Irv Levin and legendary Celtics general manager Red Auerbach.
Cowens never revealed what caused him to want the break — it came after a four-game losing streak in a season that saw friend Paul Silas traded away while Cowens was embroiled in a lawsuit, any of which or all could have been the culprit. “Dave came into my office today, and said he’s got a lot of personal problems and feels he can’t play,” said Auerbach via the AP’s Dave O’Hara.
“These things happen,” added Red. “He’s a fantastic human being and sincere. This is a shock to everyone, no one anticipated it. I ache.”
On this day in Celtics history, the storied franchise played its first game.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise played the first game of its storied history in 1946 as it kicked off play in the brand-new Basketball Association of America, which became the National Basketball Association in 1949).
That first contest was not an auspicious one. The Celtics dropped their inaugural game to the (now defunct) Providence Steamrollers, 59-53. Boston fell to 0-1 to start the 1946-47 BAA season on a sour note that offered no hints of the many wins to come. It was of course the Celtics’ debut for the entire team, but in that era, sparse counting stat records were kept — or even conceived of.
With that in mind, let’s review the details we do have.
Today’s installment focuses on the 29 players who wore No. 11 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 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 29 players who wore No. 11 over the years as of September 2023.
Ainge started his athletic journey as a multi-sport athlete in high school, excelling in basketball, football, and baseball. https://t.co/4PnH3CVgoh
On this date, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics guard Paul Westphal was drafted, and former Celtics big man and famous actor Chuck Connors was born.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtic Hall of Fame guard Paul Westphal was picked up by the team tenth overall in the 1972 NBA draft after playing his college ball at USC. Westphal would play for three seasons with Boston, where he would win a championship in 1974 — just his second season in the league.
At the end of the 1974-75 season, Westphal was dealt with a pair of second-round draft picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for point guard Charlie Scott. The California native would average 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game in his time with Boston.
He would pass away in January of 2021 after a long battle with cancer.
On this day in Celtics history, Dave Cowens stepped away from the team for a time, Kendrick Perkins and Gene Conely were born, and Chuck Connors left us.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame big man Dave Cowens took a leave of absence from the team after several days of trying to get permission from team owner Irv Levin and legendary Celtics general manager Red Auerbach.
Cowens never revealed what caused him to want the break — it came after a four-game losing streak in a season that saw friend Paul Silas traded away while Cowens was embroiled in a lawsuit, any of which or all could have been the culprit. “Dave came into my office today, and said he’s got a lot of personal problems and feels he can’t play,” said Auerbach via the AP’s Dave O’Hara.
“These things happen,” added Red. “He’s a fantastic human being and sincere. This is a shock to everyone, no one anticipated it. I ache.”
On this day in Celtics history, the storied franchise played its first game.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise played the first game of its storied history in 1946 as it kicked off play in the brand-new Basketball Association of America, which became the National Basketball Association in 1949).
That first contest was not an auspicious one. The Celtics dropped their inaugural game to the (now defunct) Providence Steamrollers, 59-53. Boston fell to 0-1 to start the 1946-47 BAA season on a sour note that offered no hints of the many wins to come.
It was of course the Celtics’ debut for the entire team, but in that era, sparse counting stat records were kept — or even conceived of. With that in mind, let’s review the details we do have.
On this date, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics guard Paul Westphal was drafted, and former Celtics big man and famous actor Chuck Connors was born.
On this day, former Boston Celtic Hall of Fame guard Paul Westphal was drafted by the team tenth overall in the 1972 NBA Draft after playing his college ball at USC.
Westphal would play for three seasons with the Celtics, where he would win a championship in 1974, just his second season in the league.
At the end of the 1974-75 season, Westphal was dealt with a pair of second-round draft picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for point guard Charlie Scott. The California native would average 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in his time with Boston.
It is also the birthday of Kevin Joseph Aloysius “Chuck” Connors, who was born on this date in 1921.
Better known for his acting role as Lucas McCain — the star of the popular 1960s television show The Rifleman, Connors played not just basketball professionally before becoming a famous actor but major league baseball as well.
He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of U.S. professional sports to play both sports, current Celtics team president Danny Ainge being another.
Connors played both forward and center for Boston despite being just 6-foot-5 for two seasons, averaging 4.5 points and 0.8 assists per game between 1946 and 1948.
It is the anniversary of five wins since the season of the Celtics’ last NBA championship in 2007-08 as well, the first of them being a 105-98 win over the Miami Heat in 2009.
Led by Paul Pierce — who scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half — Boston saw solid outing from center Glen Davis (22 points and 8 boards) and Ray Allen (21 points) as well.
A year later in 2010, the Celtics blew out the Milwaukee Bucks 105-90 with Pierce again leading the team with 24 points and 6 rebounds, this time 18 of which came in the second half.
“”It was a big win. I wish we could come out like this every night,” Pierce said via the Associated Press. “We have to get some momentum going as we head into the playoffs.”
With Kevin Garnett resting, Allen helped carry the scoring load with 21 points of his own, and Davis added 12 points and 7 boards off the bench.
In 2012, Boston beat the Miami Heat 115-107 as Pierce and Garnett scored 27 and 24 points respectively.
Point guard Rajon Rondo extended his streak of double-digit assists to 18 games with 18 points and 15 assists while forward Brandon Bass added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“It took a while,” Rondo noted via the A.P., “but we’re peaking at the right time.”
The Celtics also defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-90 on this date in 2015 as guard Marcus Smart led Boston to the win with 19 points.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas chipped in 17 points and 5 assists off the bench, and guard Avery Bradley logged 15 points as the Celtics remained in the hunt for the playoffs.
Finally, Boston beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-105 as a 27-point night for IT helped stop a late push by the Nets.
Big man Al Horford scored 19 points and 8 boards, and Bradley chipped in 18 points and 5 rebounds to help secure the victory.
“It says a lot about this team,” Thomas said courtesy of the A.P. “We’ve been through ups and downs. … We just kept going. That says a lot about who we are.”
