On this day: Rondo traded for Crowder; most team assists in ’85

On this day, the Celtics traded Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks for Jae Crowder, and Boston logged 46 assists against Dallas, their most ever.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded champion point guard Rajon Rondo and center Dwight Powell to the Dallas Mavericks in 2014 in exchange for small forward Jae Crowder, point guard Jameer Nelson, big man Brandan Wright, draft assets, and a $13 million trade exception.

The move finally brought to an end the last remaining player from the team’s 2008 NBA title tenure with the franchise, Rondo having been with the Celtics since the Phoenix Suns drafted him out of Kentucky with the 21st overall pick of the 2006 NBA draft and dealt him to Boston on draft night.

Powell was a more recent arrival, having come over in the deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Keith Bogans in September of that year.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 26

Today’s installment focuses on the nine players who wore No. 26 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 and decades of competitive basketball played in them, 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 nine players who wore No. 26 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.