On this day: Celtics first game ever in 1946, MANY players, coach John Russell debut; Hal Crisler passes

On this day in Celtics history, the storied franchise played its first game.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise played the first game of its storied history in 1946 as it kicked off play in the brand-new Basketball Association of America, which became the National Basketball Association in 1949).

That first contest was not an auspicious one. The Celtics dropped their inaugural game to the (now defunct) Providence Steamrollers, 59-53. Boston fell to 0-1 to start the 1946-47 BAA season on a sour note that offered no hints of the many wins to come. It was of course the Celtics’ debut for the entire team, but in that era, sparse counting stat records were kept — or even conceived of.

With that in mind, let’s review the details we do have.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 4

Today’s installment focuses on the 30 players who wore No. 4 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 or 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 30 players who wore No. 4 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Howell/Counts trade; Seminoff, Gomes born; Cs beat Raps in G2 of Orlando bubble second round

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded Bailey Howell for Mel Counts, former Celtics Jm Seminoff and Ryan Gomes were born, and the team beat the Raps in the bubble.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded for big man Bailey Howell, sending center Mel Counts to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards). Counts, who played collegiately at Oregon State, was drafted by the Celtics with the seventh pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He won a title in each of his two seasons with Boston while averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Howell had played for Mississippi State collegiately and had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons, playing there before his stint with the Bullets. The Tennessee native played four seasons as a Celtic, part of an eventual Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

He won two titles with Boston, logging 18 points and 8.4 boards per contest over his four seasons as a Celtic.

On this day: KG dealt to Boston; Larkin, Collins signed; Pruitt waived

On this day in 2007, the Boston Celtics traded Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, cash, and draft considerations for Kevin Garnett.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise would trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star big man Kevin Garnett ahead of the 2007-08 season that would end in hanging Banner 17. The Big Ticket had initially been reluctant to agree to sign an extension with the Celtics should they deal for him given the dearth of high-level talent on the roster save for forward Paul Pierce.

But, a move that brought sharpshooting UConn product Ray Allen on board earlier that summer was tantalizing enough for Garnett to seal the deal. KG would agree to sign a three-year extension to add to the two remaining seasons on his existing contract.

The history-altering deal was consummated soon after.

On this day: Allen traded for; Sullinger, Green, Gomes drafted

On this day, the trade that brought Ray Allen to Boston went down, and Jeff and Gerald Green, Jared Sullinger and Ryan Gomes were drafted.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, team president Danny Ainge and the rest of the front office traded for star shooting guard Ray Allen. Sending out a package of point guard Delonte West, small forward Wally Szczerbiak, and forward Jeff Green to the then-Seattle Supersonics in exchange for Allen and center Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

“You’re always listening when you come into a situation like this. You don’t wake up one day and look to move a player like a Ray Allen,” said then-Sonics’ general manager Sam Presti via ESPN. “Someone has to come get them and Boston did that here.”

The move of course would facilitate the trade of Kevin Garnett to the Celtics soon after, Ainge and Boston having assembled the requisite talent to convince the Big Ticket that such a deal would bear fruit in the banners department, which of course it did.

Seven former Boston Celtics on the move in 2005 redraft

The 2005 class features a healthy cohort of players who would go on to play for the Boston Celtics,

Hoops Hype’s dynamic NBA redraft duo of Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon are back at their craft. This time they put the magnifying glass to the 2005 class that featured a healthy cohort of players who went on to play for the Boston Celtics, albeit a few only briefly.

With the 2023 NBA draft not far off now, the storied ball club’s front office is doing its best to assess talent in the incoming class of prospective players in the same sort of way Urbina and Barrigon have done with several such drafts, though of course with the invaluable benefit of hindsight.

Let’s take a look at which former Celtics landed where in this revisionist assessment.

On this day: Celtics first game ever in 1946, MANY players, coach John Russell debut; Hal Crisler passes

On this day in Celtics history, the storied franchise played its first game.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise played the first game of its storied history in 1946 as it kicked off play in the brand-new Basketball Association of America, which became the National Basketball Association in 1949).

That first contest was not an auspicious one. The Celtics dropped their inaugural game to the (now defunct) Providence Steamrollers, 59-53. Boston fell to 0-1 to start the 1946-47 BAA season on a sour note that offered no hints of the many wins to come.

It was of course the Celtics’ debut for the entire team, but in that era, sparse counting stat records were kept — or even conceived of. With that in mind, let’s review the details we do have.

On this day: Howell/Counts trade; Seminoff, Gomes born; Cs beat Raps in Game 2 of Disney bubble 2nd round

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded Bailey Howell for Mel Counts, former Celtics Jm Seminoff and Ryan Gomes were born, and the team beat the Raps in the bubble.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded for big man Bailey Howell, sending center Mel Counts to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards). Counts, who played collegiately at Oregon State, was drafted by the Celtics with the seventh pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He won a title in each of his two seasons with Boston while averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Howell had played for Mississippi State collegiately and had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons, playing there before his stint with the Bullets. The Tennessee native played four seasons as a Celtic, part of an eventual Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

He won two titles with Boston, logging 18 points and 8.4 boards per contest over his four seasons as a Celtic.

On this day: Howell/Counts trade; Seminoff, Gomes born; Cs beat Raps in Game 2 of Disney bubble 2nd round

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded Bailey Howell for Mel Counts, former Celtics Jm Seminoff and Ryan Gomes were born, and the team beat the Raps in the bubble.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded for big man Bailey Howell, sending center Mel Counts to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards).

Counts, who played collegiately at Oregon State, was drafted by the Celtics with the seventh pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He won a title in each of his two seasons with Boston while averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Howell had played for Mississippi State collegiately and had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons, playing there before his stint with the Bullets. The Tennessee native played four seasons as a Celtic, part of an eventual Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

He won two titles with Boston, logging 18 points and 8.4 boards per contest over his four seasons as a Celtic.

(AP Photo/HF)