Tag: Nate Archibald

Tiny Archibald: Larry Bird’s first floor general with the Boston Celtics

An accomplished icon in his own right, he is not as well known as he ought to be.

When Larry Bird joined the NBA after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, his team’s point guard was Nate “Tiny” Archibald. An accomplished icon in his own right, he is not as well known as he ought to be for a floor general who was instrumental in hanging one of Boston’s banner.

A 14-season veteran of the league, Archibald won the sole title of his career with the Celtics and the Hick From French Lick. It would be the six-time All-Star’s penultimate stop of his career, Tiny leaving the team and joining the Milwaukee Bucks after being cut by Boston in the 1983 NBA offseason.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to get to know Archibald better.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=590969556]

Every Boston Celtics All-Star for each season the game was played

Every single Boston Celtics All-Star in franchise history.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set to kick off in Indianapolis, Indiana. A pair of Boston Celtics will be part of the action for the third year in a row as Jayson Tatum plays as a starter and Jaylen Brown a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Tatum and Brown join a long list of Celtics stars who have participated in the event, now entering its 73rd year of existence, which actually got its start in the old Boston Garden. Initially created to improve the image of professional basketball after a point-shaving scandal in NCAA ball besmirched the sport in the eyes of the public, the event has taken on a life of its own as one of the league’s most anticipated events.

Let’s take a look at all the Celtics who have taken part.

How many of the NBA’s official 50 greatest in 1996 were Boston Celtics?

In 1996, the NBA released a list of its 50 greatest players up to that year to celebrate as many years of play as a league. Can you guess how many were Celtics? Better yet, who they were?

In 1996, the NBA decided to assemble a panel of 50 players, media members, and team representatives in total to select the 50 greatest players of the league’s first 50 years on the anniversary of the NBA’s first season of 1946-47.

The league again plans to assemble a similar list to honor the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2021, but before we begin to recount which alumni of the Boston Celtics were added to the list, let’s take a look at the old one. Dominated by names once populating the championship eras of the team from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, a total of 14 of the NBA’s 50 greatest players once donned the green and white.

Let’s review who made the cut, and when they were Celtics.

How many Boston Celtics are in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame?

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.

Complete list of Boston Celtics in the Basketball Hall of Fame

Celtics Wire celebrates the 48 members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with ties to the Boston Celtics franchise.

The Boston Celtics are one of the bedrock franchises in professional sports. Legends such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett dazzled fans with their athletic exploits and won the NBA championship in Boston.

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.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 7

Today’s installment focuses on the 20 players who wore No. 7 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 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 20 players who wore No. 7 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: former Celtics John Thompson, Nate Archibald born; Marquis Daniels signs; Bob Kinney passes

On this day in Celtics history, John Thompson and Tiny Archibald were born, Marquis Daniels signed, and Bob Kinney left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history in 1941, big man and NCAA coaching legend John Thompson was born in Washington D.C. A former player for the Providence College Friars and a key part of their 1963 NIT Championship squad, Thompson would be later drafted by the Celtics with the 25th overall pick of the 1964 NBA draft.

He would play just two seasons in a reserve role for Boston, nicknamed “the Caddy” for his role backing up star big man Bill Russell, winning a title for his troubles in each of his two seasons with the Celtics before starting the next phase of his career.

Thompson would retire at the end of that stretch to go into coaching, first coaching at the high school level before taking the job at Georgetown University.

Julius “Dr. J” Erving has a pair of Boston Celtics in his all-time top-10

“I have five guys who are untouchable,” he explained.

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8170″]

Hall of Famer Julius Erving recently shared his top 10 greatest basketball players of all time in an interview with Joy De Angela. His list includes a pair of Boston Celtics along with Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor to name a few of the luminaries making up this basketball legend in his own right’s personal favorites.

“I have five guys who are untouchable,” explained via Sports Illustrated’s Eric Jay Santos, putting Celtics icon Bill Russell alongside Chamberlain, Robertson, and West. “That’s my all-time best team. Everybody else has to be on the second team or the third team, and I made this decision when I was 15 years old.”

“I’m sticking with it now all these years later,” added Dr. J. “There is no order. I think West and Robertson would be in the backcourt. Elgin Baylor would be in the frontcourt with Wilt and Bill Russell.”

“The next group of guys would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, probably Karl Malone,” he continued. “I like Tiny Archibald (for his tenth spot).”

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 category=590969556]

On this day: Shaq signs, Robert Parish leaves, Tiny Archibald trade; Arnie Risen passes

On this date in Boston Celtics history, the team added Shaquille O’Neal and Nate Archibald but lost Robert Parish in free agency.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team signed Hall of Fame big man Shaquille “Shaq” Rashaun O’Neal to the final stint of his storied career.  The Newark, New Jersey native was enticed by the principal owner of the Celtics Wyc Grousbeck, who used O’Neal’s rivalry with Kobe Bryant over the number of banners each had won to convince him to sign with Boston.

After securing head coach Doc Rivers’ approval on an assurance there would be no locker room subterfuge as had followed Shaq in the past. O’Neal signed a two-year minimum deal worth $2.8 million on this date on this date in 2010.

Shaq’s tenure as a Celtic did not result in a ring for him, with injury to him and several teammates derailing a Finals run and ultimately ending in his retirement from the sport at the end of the 2010-11 season.

On this day: Anderson, Potapenko dealt; Pressey inked; Archibald cut

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded Kenny Anderson, Vitaly Potapenko, and Joseph Forte, signed Phil Pressey, and waived Nate Archibald.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded point guard Kenny Anderson with shooting guard Joseph Forte and big man Vitaly Potapenko to the Seattle SuperSonics for power forward Vin Baker and combo guard Shammond Williams.

Anderson had himself been dealt to the Celtics in 1998 from the Toronto Raptors with Popeye Jones and Žan Tabak for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers, and John Thomas, and had become an important part of the team in the interim. Boston even made it as far as the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals with Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker during the Queens native’s tenure with the team.

Anderson averaged 11.3 points, 3 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while with the Celtics.