On this day in Celtics history, franchise icon Red Auerbach coached his first game with the team, Bill Russell was honored, and several Celtics made their debut.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, franchise legend Red Auerbach coached his first game as head coach and general manager of the Boston Celtics in 1950. Auerbach had just joined the team after the resignation of the first coach in team history, Alvin “Doggy” Julian, having previously worked as an assistant coach at Duke, and as head coach of the (then) Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now, Atlanta Hawks) before leaving the latter post after a disagreement with ownership.
Red had inherited a team with a 22-46 record and a desperate owner trying not to go belly-up who made an unusual decision towards that end that panned out in a big way.
That owner, Walter Brown, actually asked a number of local sportswriters who he ought to hire as a coach for the team, and after being recommended Auerbach by the crowd, extended an offer.
#Rockets forward Dillon Brooks was fined $25,000 for what the NBA called “recklessly making contact with Daniel Theis… in the groin area.”
Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks was fined $25,000 by the NBA for what the league called “recklessly making contact with Indiana Pacers center Daniel Theis in the groin area.”
The announcement was made by Joe Dumars, executive vice president and head of basketball operations for the league office.
The incident, for which Brooks was assessed a flagrant-two foul and ejected, occurred with 7:27 left in the first quarter of Tuesday’s exhibition opener between the Rockets and Pacers. Even after losing Brooks to the ejection, Houston won, 122-103.
“I tried to navigate a screen,” Brooks said postgame of the incident with Theis. “I might have tapped him below the waist. But he got right back up. I don’t know. It’s weird that every time it happens to me, I get picked on. I guess it’s part of reputation.”
Dillon Brooks has been fined $25k for "recklessly making contact" with Daniel Theis in the groin area, the NBA announced pic.twitter.com/x4rrYg93Jq
Ime Udoka on Dillon Brooks: “You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter. #Rockets
HOUSTON — Over the previous three seasons, the Rockets have been searching for an identity. They have a number of young players who are just starting to learn their way around the NBA and haven’t established what they will become.
This offseason, general manager Rafael Stone took a step back and looked at his young talent. He knew the team needed someone to establish himself as a veteran presence by doing all the hard work needed to institute a mentality that other teams would identify.
Dillon Brooks, who had played in Memphis before accepting that aforementioned role with Stone and the Rockets in July’s free agency, quickly made it clear he would let opponents know he is helping set the new culture and standard in Houston.
“When you come to play Houston, you know it is going to be a physical battle,” Brooks said at last week’s media day to open training camp. “It is going to be a challenge and not just a walk in the park anymore. It is a challenge every single time you come to Houston.”
“You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter,” said Rockets head coach Ime Udoka about Dillon Brooks who was ejected from the game against the Indiana Pacers. #Liftoff#Sarge@TheRocketsWirepic.twitter.com/MsLp9IPI1C
In Tuesday’s 2023-24 preseason opener versus Indiana, it took the seven-year veteran less than five minutes into the first quarter to stay true to his words while establishing that on-court toughness. Ultimately, Brooks was ejected after receiving a flagrant-foul two penalty for striking Pacers center Daniel Theis in the groin area.
One play earlier, Theis and Brooks were involved in a minor skirmish when Brooks received his first foul on an out-of-bounds play.
“On the previous play, Theis may have flopped, in his (Brooks) opinion,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said during his postgame press conference. “So, he does something on the next play. You can’t let that carry over. The same guy baited him twice.
“You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter,” Udoka said as part of his commentary on Brooks. “We love his aggressiveness and physicality, but reputations carry in the NBA, and people will look for certain things, and you have to learn to monitor that better.”
In his own postgame comments, Brooks echoed Udoka’s sentiment about his reputation, and he believes officials may focus on him more because he plays the game aggressively.
“I tried to navigate a screen,” Brooks told media members postgame at his locker. “I might have tapped him below the waist. But he got right back up. I don’t know. It’s weird that every time it happens to me, I get picked on. I guess it’s part of reputation.”
When asked by the media if he feels like there is a target on his back, Brooks didn’t hesitate to respond.
“What is the name,” Brooks answered. “What’s my name? My name is ‘Dillon the Villain,’ so I guess.”
Coach Udoka took a positive approach toward Brooks being ejected, as it allowed other players — such as second-year forward Tari Eason and rookie Cam Whitmore — to play more minutes in the exhibition opener than what had been planned.
“(Brooks) was a guy we were monitoring, anyway,” Udoka said. “We were going to give him a game off somewhere, and maybe tonight was the game he got off unintentionally. We were going to give him three-quarters of run, just like we did Fred (VanVleet), but it got cut short. But it didn’t change any plans, we had other guys who stepped up and did well.”
Not even five minutes into his preseason debut with the Houston Rockets, and Dillon Brooks has already been ejected.
After he looked to have hit Indiana Pacers forward Daniel Theis below the waste, the referee ejected Brooks from the contest as Theis stayed down for a second and looked like he was in legitimate pain.
Brooks has become one of the NBA’s premiere villains, and he wasted no time in his Rockets debut to further establish that fact.
This was clearly a cheap shot on Theis, and we’re guessing the Pacers won’t forget this once they play the Rockets again this season.
Like, c’mon man, it’s legitimately the preseason. Brooks isn’t going to win any new fans if he keeps playing like this, but he seems to have embraced his status as one of the league’s more infamous talents.
Rockets fans might enjoy his tenacity on the court, but it doesn’t do anyone any good if Brooks gets ejected for it.
From Charlie Hoefer to Alaa Abdenaby to Rick Fox to Kristaps Porzingis, there has been no shortage of players who were born abroad who have worn the green and white.
The Boston Celtics are a storied franchise for more than just their titles. They have been a trailblazing team in terms of signing and fielding players from all over the world, a philosophy that started in their first season.
From Charlie Hoefer to Alaa Abdelnaby to Rick Fox to Kristaps Porzingis, there has been no shortage of players born abroad who have worn the green and white.
But who were the best and who were the worst? What criteria should we use to judge them across eras? In the spirit of the annual arrival of #RankingSeason, the thing to do is try.
And try the hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” did on a recent episode.
Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear how they assessed the international Celtics of all time.
Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner are not the only NBA players on this team.
Although the United States was considered the favorite to win the 2023 FIBA World Cup, they lost to Germany in the semifinals.
After the upset victory over Team USA on Friday in the Philippines, the German national team will advance to the finals and will face Serbia for a chance to win the gold medal in the competition.
Germany is coached by Gordon Herbert, who led Germany to win a bronze medal at the European Championships in 2022. His roster at the FIBA World Cup has four NBA players, more than any other nation except for just Team USA (12) as well as Australia (9) and Canada (7).
This team, also known as Die Mannschaft, is currently the only undefeated nation remaining in the tournament. Here are the players representing their country in this competition.
Today’s installment focuses on the 12 players who wore No. 27 over the years as of August 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 12 players who wore No. 27 over the years as of August 2023.
At the start of a career-spanning rivalry, the two friends prepared to meet for the first time in the NBA. https://t.co/8GkA9kiWeI
On this day, ex-Celtic champ Ray Allen was born, Daniel Theis, Guerschon Yabusele, Davis Wesley signed, and E’Twaun Moore was traded.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen was born in Merced, California. A military kid, Allen “grew up” in a lot of places, but would graduate high school in Dalzell, South Carolina. He attended the University of Connecticut for college, where he won Big East and UPI Player of the Year awards in 1996 during his time with the Huskies.
He would end up being drafted fifth overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but was quickly dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft-night trade, and would remain in Milwaukee for parts of seven seasons.
He would also play for the Seattle Supersonics for 5 campaigns before being dealt to the Celtics in the summer of 2007.
On this day in 1996, the Celtics snap the Magic’s 51-game home winning streak, Daniel Theis was born and Kevinn Pinkney was born,
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team snapped the Orlando Magic’s 51-game home winning streak in 1996 — an NBA record at the time — with a 100-98 victory on the road. Orlando had not lost a home game to an opponent since April of 1994.
Point guard David Wesley led Boston with 22 points and 7 rebounds, and forward Rick Fox added 16 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists. Reserve guard Dee Brown contributed 15 points and 6 assists off the bench, and big man Pervis Ellison chipped in 13 points, 7 boards, and 6 blocks for the win.
“Certainly, we’re not the same team with Penny [Hardaway] and Shaq both off the floor, but we’re still good enough to win this game this evening,” said Magic head coach Brian Hill after the loss (via the New York Times’ Clifton Brown). “We had a double-digit lead in the second half.”
Among the cadre of present and former Boston players, we see reserve guard Shane Larkin, backup big man Daniel Theis, reserve center Mike Muscala, and veteran big Kelly Olynyk all shift positions in terms of where they were actually drafted.
Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon are at it again with a redraft of the class of players who were in the 2013 NBA draft, and a number of Boston Celtics alumni saw their fortunes change in this hypothetical redux of the first draft of the Celtics’ post-Banner 17 rebuild.
Among the cadre of present and former Boston players, we see reserve guard Shane Larkin, backup big man Daniel Theis, reserve center Mike Muscala, and veteran big Kelly Olynyk all shift positions in terms of where they were actually drafted — or in some cases, passed over entirely by teams in control of a pick.
With all of that said, let’s see where this foursome of Celtics alumni has landed had the 2013 draft gone the way these two Hoops Hype analysts envision it would if held today.
