Tag: Otis Birdsong

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 12

Today’s installment focuses on the 34 players who wore No. 12 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 34 players who wore No. 12 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Danny Ainge debuts; Otis Birdsong born; Keyon Dooling trade; Greg Stiemsma signed

On this day, former Celtic guard and team president Danny Ainge made his debut for the team, and shooting guard Otis Birdsong was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion shooting guard and penultimate team president of basketball operations Danny Ainge made his NBA debut for the franchise way back in 1981. A product of Brigham Young University, Ainge was a three-sport star in high school, where he was a first team All-American in football, basketball, and baseball, playing basketball with BYU and baseball professionally with the Toronto Blue Jays while still in college.

He would play for that team in Major League Baseball for three seasons before deciding to try his hand at basketball and was picked up with the 31st selection of the 1981 NBA draft by the Celtics.

Boston of course bought him out of his deal with the Blue Jays.

Today in Nets history: Nets win playoff series over reigning NBA champions

The Philadelphia 76ers were favored heading into their 1984 first-round matchup against the New Jersey Nets.

With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.

For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.

Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:

The Atlantic Division was as talented as any in the 1983-84 NBA season. With the Celtics leading the league in wins (62), the Philadelphia 76ers could only hope for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, even though they had two more wins (52) than the top team in the Central Division, the Milwaukee Bucks (50).

Philly secured the third seed, which meant they had to face the New Jersey Nets in the first round. With the Sixers being the higher seed and the reigning NBA champions, they were clear favorites.

Then New Jersey won the first game, on the road. Same thing happened in Game 2. Philly went on to tie the series at 2-2, but the Nets continued to play road warriors, as New Jersey stole the series on April 26, 1984, with a 101-98 win to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (full box score).

Buck Williams had a double-double (17 points and 16 rebounds) in the clincher, while both Micheal Ray Richardson and Otis Birdsong finished with 24 points, six assists and six steals apiece.

Ranking the top five shooting guards in Nets history

The Nets franchise has featured some impressive shooting guards through the years, including a hall of famer, and other soon-to-be.

In this new era of positionless basketball, shooting guards have fallen in a strange middle ground. Of course, “guard” is in the position’s title, but some shooting guards are closer to being small forwards than combo guards.

For instance, Joe Harris is a shooting guard, but he’s certainly not bringing the ball up the floor. Yet fellow Brooklyn Nets off-guard Caris LeVert could also play ball-handler as needed or even roll up to the three.

Those two both came to Brooklyn in 2016-17 and have put together some impressive work. But have they secured a seat among the franchise’s best shooting guards of all time? Nets Wire examined the point guards to wear a Brooklyn or New Jersey uniform through the years and selected the five best:

5. Joe Johnson

Credit: Anthony Gruppuso – USA TODAY Sports
Nets Stats: 14.7 PPG | 37.8 3-PT% | 3.4 APG

Johnson could have also fallen under the category of small forward, but his game fits in better with shooting guards.

That’s because Iso Joe was about one thing above all else: buckets.

Johnson’s highest scoring average over his four-year Nets career was 16.3 points per game — his first season in Brooklyn. But it was the next year that he was named an NBA All-Star, and shot 40.1% from 3-point territory.

RELATED: A look back at Joe Johnson, the ultimate isolation scorer

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Today in Nets history: Mike Gminski sets career-highs in win over Celtics

The 1986 Boston Celtics are regarded as one of the best teams in NBA history. But on April 9, that didn’t matter to the New Jersey Nets.

With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.

For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.

Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:

Mike Gminski may have seen his consecutive free-throws made streak come to an end on April 9, 1986, but his performance against the Boston Celtics was far from a bad memory.

The center had a career night in New Jersey’s 108-98 win over the Celtics (full box score). Gminski scored 41 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. It was the first time he’d ever eclipsed the 40-point mark — and it turned out to be the only time he’d ever do so. It was also the final time Gminski would grab 20 or rebounds in his NBA career, though he’d done it once before his April 9 performance (March 18, 1986).

Buck Williams also had a double-double (13 points and 14 rebounds), and Otis Birdsong was second in scoring for the Nets with 22 points.

RELATED: Ranking the top five point guards in Nets history