Tag: garfield smith

On this day: Len Bias, Garfield Smith, Sam Cassell born; Bob Cousy traded

On this day, Celtics Len Bias, Garfield Smith, and Sam Cassell — while Boston icon Bob Cousy had his rights traded to the Cincinnati Royals.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Len Bias was born in Landover, Maryland in 1963. Bias would attend his hometown University of Maryland after graduating high school, where he would rise to national attention with the Terrapins.

He would be taken by the Celtics with the second overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft, only to have tragedy follow soon after. To celebrate his good fortune of landing with the storied franchise, the former Terrapin returned to the University of Maryland campus to celebrate his ascent to a contending team in the NBA with several of his friends.

Bias would have a seizure and collapse after using cocaine, a cardiac arrhythmia triggered by the use of the drug that eventually killed him. His unexpected passing is one of the great tragedies of Celtics and NBA history — rest in peace.

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

On this day: Celtics Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers, Jermaine O’Neal born; John Havlicek jersey retired

On this day, Boston Celtics alumni Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers, and Jermaine O’Neal were born, and John Havlicek’s jersey was retired.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, franchise icon small forward Paul Pierce was born in Oakland, California in 1977. A product of the University of Kansas, Pierce somehow managed to slip to be taken 10th overall by the Celtics in the 1998 NBA draft, joining a moribund Boston team that had fallen from its former glory.

Pierce would make the All-Rookie First Team in his inaugural season, and quickly cemented his status as a star on the rise. He would make his first All-Star team in 2002, two seasons after a stabbing incident in a local nightclub nearly cost him his life.

Famously, it somehow did not cause him to miss even a single game of that season, however.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 33

Today’s installment focuses on the four players who wore No. 33 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 four players who wore No. 33 over the years as of August 2023.

On this day: triple OT win vs. Suns in G5 of ’76 Finals; Chaney drafted

The Boston Celtics outlasted the Phoenix Suns in a 128-126 triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team survived a 128-126 triple-overtime slugfest with the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals for what was at that time the longest Finals game in league history.

Point guard Jo Jo White of the Celtics led Boston with 33 points, and forward John Havlicek would nail a 15-foot bank shot to send the game to its second overtime. At the end of that extra period, Phoenix forward Gar Heard scored a buzzer-beating trey to force the third extra period, with Heard setting a record for minutes played in a Finals game at 61 minutes. That record would stand until 1993 when the Suns and Chicago Bulls would go to triple-overtime and Phoenix’s Kevin Johnson playing 62 minutes.

Boston would go on to win the series two days later and secure their 13th banner.

On this day: Len Bias, Garfield Smith, Sam Cassell born; Bob Cousy traded

On this day, Celtics Len Bias, Garfield Smith, and Sam Cassell — while Boston icon Bob Cousy had his rights traded to the Cincinnati Royals.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Len Bias was born in Landover, Maryland in 1963. Bias would attend his hometown University of Maryland after graduating high school, where he would rise to national attention with the Terrapins.

He would be taken by the Celtics with the second overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft, only to have tragedy follow soon after. To celebrate his good fortune of landing with the storied franchise, the former Terrapin returned to the University of Maryland campus to celebrate his ascent to a contending team in the NBA with several of his friends.

Bias would have a seizure and collapse after using cocaine, a cardiac arrhythmia triggered by the use of the drug that eventually killed him. His unexpected passing is one of the great tragedies of Celtics and NBA history — rest in peace.

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 33

This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 33 jersey for at least one game.

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 four players who wore No. 33 over the years.