On this day, Boston coach Brad Stevens and Celtics Joe Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey, Jared Sullinger, and Romeo Langford debuted for the team, while Rajon Rondo dropped 24 assists.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics head coach and current Boston President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens coached his first regular-season game in that role after being hired away from the Butler Bulldogs earlier in the year to head to the Celtics to accept his first NBA job.
The tilt was unfortunately a loss to the Toronto Raptors to start the Stevens era with the franchise, though at least a close one to the tune of 93-87. Stevens’ best performing players were forward Jeff Green with 25 points and 5 rebounds, and big man Brandon Bass with 17 points.
The game wasn’t just Stevens’ first with the Celtics.
No team in NBA history has produced more. How many can you name?
With Boston Celtics Hall of Fame Paul Pierce officially part of the incoming 2021 class and big man Kevin Garnett getting his formal induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in May 2021 — nearly a year after getting the nod due to the pandemic — all three members of the so-called “new Big Three” of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen have been ensconced in what serves as the Valhalla of basketball.
But they are far from the only Celtics so honored. In fact, there is a veritable host of Boston legends populating the Hoop Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, just a short drive away from the NBA’s titletown. The Celtics have more players than any other team in league history.
Let’s take a look at the 40 Celtics who have been honored with a Hall of Fame induction.
Kevin Garnett's grandmother once got out a shotgun when a recruiter tried to bribe him https://t.co/v3XM1oyfol
A couple of hours down the Mass Pike in Springfield, no fewer than four dozen players, coaches, and contributors with ties to the Celtics franchise have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame over the years, spanning the decades from the first years of the storied ball club’s existence up to the team’s last era of contention.
Below, Celtics Wire celebrates the 49 members of the Hall of Fame with Celtics connections in a photo gallery.
Damon and Mark Wahlberg, sitting courtside with floor seats, were enthusiastically cheering for the Celtics when Jackson lost his cool and shouted at them https://t.co/eASRHKFXMU
It’s no coincidence this team has the most retired jersey numbers with 17 banners hanging alongside them as of Oct. 2023.
There are no teams in the history of the NBA to have more titles than the Boston Celtics — at least not yet — so it makes sense there are no other franchises with more retired numbers to honor the players over the decades who earned and hung those banners.
In fact, there are no teams in any sport with more retired jersey numbers at 24 overall, a reflection of the excellence behind the Celtics mystique built by franchise architect Red Auerbach. From his signing with the team as coach and general manager onward, Boston became one of the premier teams of the greatest basketball league on the planet.
But who were the players for which those jerseys were retired? Let’s take a look at them all as of Oct. 2022.
Before he was a Boston Celtic, a baby-faced Jayson Tatum wowed fans at Peach Jam https://t.co/xuBTRok2oi
The Boston Celtics have had a wealth of riches as far as the NBA draft is concerned.
The Boston Celtics have had a wealth of riches as far as the NBA draft is concerned, and it’s quite a challenge to try and rank the top 10 best draft picks ever made by the franchise. And given all the hardware pulled down over the years — as well as the long period of struggle between the late 1980s and late 2000s — trying to create a rubric that works in all eras is nearly as tough.
But that is our goal here, and at least in this assessment longevity with the team, individual contributions compared to teammates, and of course hardware will all be taken into consideration here.
So, let’s take a look at how they stack up over seven decades of history.
It was a synergetic relationship that powered the Banner 17 title team. https://t.co/ZYLSEYnykx
Today’s installment focuses on the three players who wore No. 23 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 three players who wore No. 23 over the years as of August 2023.
The NBA’s original sixth man and seven-time champion Frank Ramsey was born on this day in 1931.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, seven-time champion small forward Frank Vernon Ramsey Jr. was born in Corydon, Kentucky in 1931. The young Ramsey would play multiple sports at the collegiate level, which he did with the nearby University of Kentucky Wildcats.
The Corydon native would play baseball as well as basketball under famed Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp and would help his Wildcats win an NCAA championship in 1951 over the Kansas State Wildcats. Kentucky would get the so-called “death penalty” due to a point-shaving scandal (Ramsey and Lou Tsioropoulos were not among those accused) the following season which in turn removed the senior season for the Kentuckian and his future teammates on the Celtics as well, Cliff Hagan and Tsioropoulos.
The trio graduated in 1953 and were all drafted by Boston, Ramsey going fifth overall.
On this day, Al Horford and Rasheed Wallace became Celtics, and Earl Shannon and Frank Ramsey left us.
On this date in Boston Celtic history, fan-favorite big man Al Horford signed with the team in 2016. A standout at the University of Florida, where the Dominican center won two national titles in consecutive seasons, Horford was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, with whom he spent nine seasons before choosing to sign with the Celtics.
The former Gator left Atlanta in free agency after the Hawks were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs two years in a row. He signed a four-year, $113 million contract with Boston. The Celtics made the Eastern Conference finals twice during Horford’s first tenure with the team.
The Puerto Plata native also made an All-Star team and an All-Defensive second team while with Boston in that stint.
The storied ball club has a number of their former players on any list of NBA greats who have played in the most Game 7s.
When talking about playing in Game 7s in the history of the NBA playoffs, fans of the Boston Celtics will not be too surprised to learn the storied club has a number of their former players on any list of NBA greats who have played in the most Game 7s over the course of their careers.
But when you take into account the dominance of the Celtics from the 1950s to the precipice of the 1970s with long stretches of contention in the mid-seventies, the eighties and late aughts, it makes sense that such lists are littered with former Boston players.
Let’s take a look at the record books to find out.
Can you guess who that might be, as well as the others of the top ten players in terms of postseason play in the history of Boston’s playoff action? https://t.co/n8CBDIYpHp
Bob Ryan’s latest installment of his deep dive into the history of the sixth man role in the NBA.
Welcome back to legendary Boston Celtics beat writer Bob Ryan‘s latest installment of his deep dive into the history of the sixth man role in the NBA, and how it has evolved to the present day.
In today’s segment, we dive deep with Ryan into the story of the true pioneer of the sixth man role in the history of the league, legendary Celtics champion wing Frank Ramsey.
Known by his peers on the Celtics and across the Association as the ultimate team player, Ramsey set the stage for generations of players like him to make a significant impact on their team’s ability to win while primarily coming off the bench.
His contributions to the Celtics during their early dynasty years have left an indelible mark on the history of the league.
