Tag: jim loscutoff

On this day: Larry Bird’s No. 33 retired; Greene, Loscutoff born

On this day in Celtics history, Larry Bird’s No. 33 jersey was retired, and Orien Greene and Jim Loscutoff were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the franchise retired Hall of Fame forward Larry Bird’s No. 33 jersey in a special, sold-out ceremony at the TD Garden in 1993.

Larry Legend played his college ball primarily at Indiana State (he briefly played at Indiana under iconic coach Bob Knight before transferring to Indiana). He was drafted before he graduated via a loophole in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that was exploited by legendary Celtics general manager Red Auerbach in the 1978 NBA draft. (Auerbach allowed Bird and his agent to extract a record-breaking rookie deal from Boston in the process.)

The Hick from French Lick (as the Indiana native was called) signed a historically large rookie contract and began racking up accolades in his inaugural season.

On this day: Paul Pierce goes for 48 vs. Nets; Kemba Walker knee surgery announced; Jim Loscutoff passes

On this day in Celtics history, Paul Pierce went off against the Nets, Kemba Walker revealed he’d had a knee procedure and Loscy left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, iconic Hall of Fame small forward Paul Pierce scored 48 points in a 105-98 win over the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 2001. The Californian guard helped carry the Celtics to the hard-fought mid-season victory in overtime with his offensive eruption, putting up 34 field goal attempts and making just 13 of his shots from the floor that night.

The Kansas alum was especially sizzling from beyond the arc in terms of efficiency, nailing five of his 8 attempts from 3-point range, and getting to the free throw line an absurd 18 times.

Pierce converted an equally-sizzling 17 of his shots from the stripe that night.

On this day: Cs’ 1st home game; Walton born; Radja, Earl, Rivas, Hemric, Loscutoff debut; Englund passes

On this day in Celtics history, the team played their first home game in franchise history.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the newly-formed professional basketball franchise the Boston Celtics played their first home game in 1946 in the Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) in team history.

The game was an inauspicious loss, 57-55 to the now-defunct Chicago Stags (not to be confused with the later franchise of that city, the Bulls), which saw two of the Celtics break double figures. One of the pair was guard Johnny Simmons, who scored 13 points on 6 field goals and a free throw, though we don’t know how efficiently since that and many aspects of the game were yet to be recorded in those early years of the sport.

Forward Wyndol Gray scored 12 points as well, and future star of television and film Chuck Connors added 8 points in the loss.

The Boston Celtics have retired 24 jersey numbers – these are the players so honored

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.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 18

Today’s installment focuses on the seven players who wore No. 18 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, their unretired jersey numbers pack 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 seven players who wore No. 18 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Celtics win first title; Loscutoff drafted; Barnes, O’Connell, Kappen, Barros, Olowokandi born

On this day, Boston won their 1st of a league-best 17 banners in 1957, 2 years to the date they drafted ex-Celtic forward Jim Loscutoff.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Boston Celtics won the first of their 17 championships in 1957, a 125-123 double-overtime thriller at the Boston Garden against the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.

The Hawks and Celtics had been tied three games to three heading into the critical Game 7 contest and saw rookie and future legendary big man Bill Russell grab a record 32 rebounds, the most ever for a rookie in any NBA Finals game up to that point. It also saw one-day Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn, a 6-foot-7 rookie forward, scored 37 points and 23 rebounds in the win.

The victory sparked a short-lived rivalry between the two clubs that would end in the early 1960s, supplanted by the Los Angeles Lakers.

On this day: Larry Bird’s No. 33 retired; Greene, Loscutoff born

On this day in Celtics history, Larry Bird’s No. 33 jersey was retired, and Orien Greene and Jim Loscutoff were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the franchise retired Hall of Fame forward Larry Bird’s No. 33 jersey in a special, sold-out ceremony at the TD Garden in 1993.

Larry Legend played his college ball primarily at Indiana State (he briefly played at Indiana under iconic coach Bob Knight before transferring) and was drafted before he graduated via a loophole in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that was exploited by legendary Celtics general manager Red Auerbach in the 1978 NBA draft (and in turn allowed Bird and his agent to extract a record-breaking rookie deal from Boston in the process).

The Hick from French Lick (as the Indiana native was called) signed a historically large rookie contract and began racking up accolades in his inaugural season.

On this day: Paul Pierce goes for 48 vs. Nets; Kemba Walker knee surgery announced; Jim Loscutoff passes

On this day in Celtics history, Paul Pierce went off against the Nets, Kemba Walker revealed he’d had a knee procedure and Loscy left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, iconic Hall of Fame small forward Paul Pierce scored 48 points in a 105-98 win over the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 2001. The Californian guard helped carry the Celtics to the hard-fought mid-season victory in overtime with his offensive eruption, putting up 34 field goal attempts and making just 13 of his shots from the floor that night.

The Kansas product was especially sizzling from beyond the arc in terms of efficiency, nailing five of his 8 attempts from 3-point range, and getting to the free throw line an absurd 18 times.

Pierce converted an equally-sizzling 17 of his shots from the stripe that night.

On this day: Cs’ 1st home game; Walton born; Radja, Earl, Rivas, Hemric, Loscutoff debut; Englund passes

On this day in Celtics history, the team played their first home game in franchise history.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the newly-formed professional basketball franchise the Boston Celtics played their first home game in 1946 in the Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) in team history.

The game was an inauspicious loss, 57-55 to the now-defunct Chicago Stags (not be confused with the later franchise of that city, the Bulls), which saw two of the Celtics break double figures. One of the pair was guard Johnny Simmons, who scored 13 points on 6 field goals and a free throw, though we don’t know how efficiently since that and many aspects of the game were yet to be recorded in those early years of the sport.

Forward Wyndol Gray scored 12 points as well, and future star of television and film Chuck Connors added 8 points in the loss.

Every Boston Celtics player who never lost an NBA Finals series

Let’s take a look at all the Boston players who never lost a Finals series with more than two appearances.

Which Boston Celtics never lost a game in the NBA Finals?

While the Celtics have a large number of players who can say they never have, it might surprise you that the greatest winner of all time is not on that list. The Celtics’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the 1958 NBA Finals is to blame for 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell missing the list.

But many of his teammates appear on the list as do a few other former Celtics from later years when Boston was a regular visitor to the finals.

Let’s take a look at all the Boston players who never lost a finals series with more than two appearances.