Tag: david thirdkill

On this day: Boston Celtics forward David Thirdkill signs with team

On this day in 1985, the Boston Celtics signed power forward David Thirdkill as an unrestricted free agent.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise would sign small forward David Thirdkill as an unrestricted free agent in 1985. The Sheriff — as Thirdkill was sometimes called as a nickname — was a native of St. Louis, Missouri who played his college ball in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University, where he would win Second Team All-Missouri Valley Conference with the Braves.

He would be drafted with the 15th overall pick of the 1982 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, for whom Thirdkill would play for just one season before being dealt away to play for the Detroit Pistons.

He would later have stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs before joining the Celtics.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 45

This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 45 jersey for at least one game 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 dozen players who wore No. 45 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

On this day: Celtics nearly move to North Shore; Alvin Julian hired

On this day in 1982, the Boston Celtics nearly moved to the North Shore; 36 years earlier, they hired Holy Cross’ Alvin Julian as head coach.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team hired their second coach, Alvin “Doggie” Fred Julian, in 1948. Julian joined the team after coaching Holy Cross and future Celtic legend Bob Cousy at the collegiate level.

His tenure with the Celtics was a brief one. Recording a 47-81 record with the team over two seasons, the collegiate champion coach was soon let go by Boston, at the end of his second season as head coach for the franchise. Julian is one of only three coaches hired directly from the NCAA ranks in the history of the storied franchise to date.

The others are Rick Pitino (previously with Kentucky) and Brad Stevens (previously with Butler).