Tag: Sam Jones

On this day: Sam Jones’ jersey retired; Cs 1st team to win 60 games; Clyde Lovellette passes

On this day in Celtics history, Boston honored Sam Jones, won 60 games in a season for the first time, and lost Clyde Lovellette.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Celtics shooting guard Sam Jones had his jersey number raised up to the rafters of the old Boston Garden in honor of his iconic career in Boston as one of the winningest players ever to play the sport of basketball professionally.

A 10-time champion at his retirement — a feat only bested by friend and teammate Bill Russell with 11 titles as a player — Jones had his No. 24 jersey forever taken out of circulation in respect for “The Shooter” (as Jones was called as a nickname). Ironically drafted by the (then) Minneapolis Lakers (later, Los Angeles), the Wilmington, North Carolina native would instead return to college for another year. He was then picked up by Red Auerbach and the Celtics with the eighth overall selection of the 1957 NBA draft.

He was also the franchise career-scoring leader at the time of his retirement.

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.

On this day: Boston Celtics field NBA’s first All-Black starting five

On this day in 1964, the Boston Celtics fielded the first all-Black starting 5 in league history when Willie Naulls replaced Tommy Heinsohn in the lineup.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise made history by starting the first all-Black starting five in NBA history back in 1964. The Celtics were on the road to play a regular season game with the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks when Hall of Fame power forward Tommy Heinsohn ended up a scratch due to an injury he sustained previously.

In that era, there was a so-called “gentlemen’s agreement” that acted as an unspoken agreement to always have at least one white player on the court at all times, supposedly in the interest of racial harmony.

But, legendary team manager and head coach Red Auerbach decided to play recently-acquired Willie Naulls in his place, breaking that tacit, racist agreement.

On this day: Boston legend Tommy Heinsohn scores 45 on Christmas Day

It is the most scored by a Celtics player on that day, and Tommy’s career-high.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics power forward Tommy Heinsohn scored 45 points in the Celtics’ 127-122 win over the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, the Philadelphia 76ers) on the road on Christmas Day 1961.

It remains the record for points scored on any game played on Christmas by a Celtic player (point guards Kyrie Irving and Bob Cousy hold the next two highest scores on that day with 40 and 35 points, respectively). The yuletide offensive outburst was also the most points scored by the iconic power forward in any game of his storied career.

The Holy Cross alumnus went on to win his fifth title with the team later that season, but he played a game for the ages that holiday tilt first.

On this day: Stevens born; Brooks, McCarty trades; Timelord, Sam Jones, Tom Sanders debuts; Murphy passes

On this date, team president Brad Stevens was born, Scott Brooks and Walter McCarty were traded to the team and a number of Celtics made their debuts.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, current Boston Celtics team president Brad Stevens was born in Zionsville, Indiana in 1976. Stevens played collegiately for DePauw University while earning a degree in economics, earning Academic All-America honors three times and the All-Conference team as many times as well.

Stevens spent some time working as a pharmacy representative after college, then moved into coaching as a volunteer assistant with the Butler University men’s basketball program. It got him the job as a full-time assistant coach the next season, and he would be promoted to head coach of the Bulldogs in 2007.

Stevens quickly garnered national attention for the work he was doing at Butler, breaking the NCAA record for wins by a coach in their first three seasons while making the NCAA title game two seasons running in 2010 and 2011.

Who are the Boston Celtics’ top-10 all-time leaders in postseason free throws?

Make your guesses, then scroll down to see how you did.

In his historic, 50-point masterpiece against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of the 2021 Eastern Conference first-round series, All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics likely would not have won the game had the budding superstar not gotten to the line 15 times, converting 13.

But the St. Louis native had a long way to go to crack the franchise’s top ten in free throws made in the postseason given the long and storied history of the Celtics in the playoffs, making the list in 2023; you sink a lot of shots at the charity stripe when you win 17 banners, after all.

Who are the 10 most accomplished sinkers of free throws in the playoffs for Boston, then? Make your guesses, then scroll down to see how you did.

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.

Who are the Boston Celtics’ top-10 all-time leaders in postseason points scored?

Can you name Boston’s 10 most prolific postseason scorers? Better yet, can you do it in order?

The Boston Celtics have put a whole lot of points on the board in NBA postseasons while they racked up a league-record 17 titles over the course of their seven decades (and counting) of existence.

Some of the greatest of the great have put the proverbial biscuit in the basket for the Celtics over the years, including several staples on lists of the greatest to play the game. But naming the 10 most prolific postseason scorers for Boston is still no easy task, even for the most ardent Celtics fans. With the golden era of the 1960s, the mid-seventies resurgence, the trio of titles in the eighties, or the most recent banner in 2008, there are a lot of options to choose from.

Make your own guesses about Boston’s playoff scoring leaders, and then scroll down to see how you did.

Who are the Boston Celtics’ top-10 all-time leaders in postseason wins?

Can you name all the Celtics who led Boston to the most playoff wins? Better yet, can you do it in order?

Begrudgingly tied with their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, with the most NBA titles in league history at 17 each, few teams can rival the Boston Celtics in terms of total playoff games won by their players.

Spanning most of the years in the seven decades of existence all the way back to the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league to the NBA) era, there has been a Celtics roster playing in the postseason more often than not. But who are the stars and role players who got Boston there and played the games that led to all those banners?

Make your guesses, and scroll down to see how you did.

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.