This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 10 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 nine players who wore No. 10 over the years.
This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 11 jersey for at least one game. https://t.co/GMfJWhyX4q
On this day, the storied rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers was born; it is also the date of Boston legend John Havlicek’s last home game.
On this day in 1959, the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers was born as the Celtics defeated their longtime rivals — then in Minnesota, known for its lakes — as their first NBA Finals series came to an end with a 118-113 triumph for the Massachusetts franchise.
It was, Boston fans will be happy to hear, a sweep of four games in a row for the Celtics, who won the seven-game series to take home the first of eight NBA championships in a row, a feat which has yet to be replicated.
For what it’s worth, it was also only one of two times a team with a losing record — the Lakers — made it to the Finals.
But, it began a long tradition of the two teams meeting in the NBA Finals over the decades that would be closer than this initial series might have one think.
It is also the date of Boston legend John Havlicek’s last home game, a 131-114 win over the Buffalo (New York) Bills. Hondo scored 29 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists in the final game of his storied career.
It was the last game of the 1977-78 regular season, and with the team’s 32-50 record, there was no postseason to play in for the Celtics.
Today was the date of Jo Jo White’s No. 10 jersey going up into the rafters in a ceremony at the Boston Garden in 1982.
White was one of the All-Time greats in the NBA’s — never mind Boston’s history, with two banners, seven All-Star Games, an NBA Finals MVP among many other honors to his name.
It is the birthday of former Celtic power forward Jack Edward Nichols, who was with Boston for five seasons between 1953 and 1958, where he won a championship in 1957, the first of many for the Celtics.
He averaged 8.7 points, 7.2 boards and 1.7 assists in his Boston tenure, the final three seasons of which he was also attending Tufts Dental School full time. He retired from basketball in 1958, having earned his doctoral degree in dentistry.
Jack Nichols’ championship team (Wikipedia/public domain)
It is the one-year anniversary of a 116-110 win over the Washington Wizards for Boston, as both teams finished their respective NBA seasons — the Celtics headed to the playoffs, the Wiz to the lottery.
Signs of a looming playoff collapse for Boston after a tumultuous season could be gleaned from reserve guard Terry Rozier’s postgame comments.
“This season hasn’t been fun, personally. I know there’s better things to come,” he said via the Associated Press. “I haven’t had that much fun. Obviously last year was more fun to me, but it’s not all about me.”
Rozier had 21 points to lead Boston, forward Semi Ojeleye had 17, and guard R.J. Hunter added 17 off the bench as well in what would be his last game with the Celtics.
On this day, Boston Celtics Hall of Fame point guard Jo Jo White was drafted, and legendary Celtics floor general Bob Cousy made an NBA-record 19 assists.
On this day, the Boston Celtics drafted Hall of Fame point guard Jo Jo White in the 1969 NBA Draft out of Kansas.
White would play 10 seasons with Boston, winning two NBA championships with the Celtics (1974, 1976) including a Finals MVP in 1976, and was elected to seven All-Star Games and two All-NBA Teams among other honors.
The St. Louis native would play in 488 consecutive games finally derailed by injury in the 1977-78 season, setting a franchise record in the process.
He never recovered to be a high-level player afterwards, and was traded to the Golden State Warriors for a 1979 first round draft pick.
It is also the anniversary of Celtics legend Bob Cousy doling out 19 assists in a 123-110 win over the then-Minneapolis Lakers in 1959, who Boston would defeat in a four-game sweep to win the 1959 NBA Championship.
The feat was an NBA record at the time, and a career-high for the Holy Cross product.
It is also the date of three wins since the season of the Celtics’ last championship in 2007-08. The first was in 2010 — a 115-104 road victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The win was buoyed with three 3-pointers from 37-year-old veteran Michael Finley, who nearly didn’t play after straining his back…picking up his luggage.
Point guard Rajon Rondo led the team with 21 points and 7 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 20 points and 5 assists, and Kevin Garnett chipped in 19 points.
The next win for Boston was an 86-72 victory over the Indiana Pacers in 2012 with 24 points from Pierce and 15 points and 7 boards from Garnett.
Ray Allen added 19 points and 6 rebounds off the bench, but it was the team’s defense that secured the win, according to Rivers.
“I thought defensively, we were sensational tonight,” he said courtesy of the AP. “In a game where shots are not going in and you can still win the game, that means you can trust your defense on nights that [our offense] doesn’t work.”
Finally, the most recent Celtics victory on this date was a 107-96 win over the Washington Wizards in 2013 that saw Pierce and KG both return from injury to carry the team past the Wiz with help from forward Brandon Bass.
“He seems to always be in the right spots, available,” Pierce opined after the Baton Rouge native scored 20 points for the team in the win. “That’s going to be huge for us if he continues to play well going into the playoffs, and the great thing about it is he’s doing it all off of the hustle plays.”
Pierce added 15 points and 5 assists, and center Chris Wilcox put up 13 points and 5 boards off the bench to secure the victory.
