Tag: Tom Sanders

On this day: Celtics fire Tommy Heinsohn as coach, hire Tom Sanders

On this day in 1978, the Boston Celtics fired iconic head coach Tommy Heinsohn and hired Celtic champ Tom Sanders to replace him in that role.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise fired then-head coach and former champion forward Tommy Heinsohn.

Heinsohn had begun coaching the team after a stint as a broadcaster calling games for local television station WKBG, which he had been doing for 3 seasons after retiring as one of the most decorated players in all of NBA history in 1965, winning 8 titles and a host of other honors. The Holy Cross product was similarly successful as a head coach for the Celtics early on, winning the league’s Coach of the Year honors in 1973 and a pair of titles in 1974 and 1976.

He would also serve as the head coach of the East in All-Star games between 1972 and 1974, and again in 1976.

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: Jo Jo White debuts; Tom Sanders fired, Dave Cowens hired as coach; David Wesley born

On this day, Boston legend Jo Jo White debuted for the team, Tom Sanders was fired as head coach, Dave Cowens was hired to replace him, and David Wesley was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard David Wesley was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1970. An alumnus of Baylor University, the Texan guard found himself passed over in the 1992 NBA draft due to concerns about his height at 6-foot-1 and ability to transition from the 1 to the 2 at the NBA level.

After a stint with the Wichita Falls Texans in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA — that era’s equivalent of the NBA G League), he would sign with the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets before joining the Celtics the next season as a free agent.

Wesley’s scoring doubled or nearly so each of his first three seasons in the NBA, going from 3.1 to 7.4 to 12.3 points per game.

On this day: Sanders, Carroll born; Driggers, Searcy debuted; Overton, Sykes sign; Nostrand passes

On this day in Celtics history, former Boston power forward Satch Sanders and interim coach Jim Carroll were born, while guard Nate Driggers debuted.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion power forward Thomas Ernest “Satch” Sanders was born in New York City, New York. Satch — as he was more commonly called — played his college ball at New York University, and would be drafted by the Celtics eighth overall in the 1960 NBA draft.

Sanders joined Boston just as it was establishing its dynasty of titles in the 1960s, winning eight with the team in that decade — a feat only surpassed by teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones and equaled by Tommy Heinsohn, John Havlicek, and K.C. Jones, all Celtic teammates from that era as well.

The New Yorker would retire as a player to get into coaching (including Boston in 1978) in 1973, averaging 9.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game with the Celtics.

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 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.

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.

Who are the Boston Celtics’ top-10 all-time leaders in playoff games played?

Can you name the top 10 players in franchise history in terms of games played in the postseason? Better yet, can you name their order?

With 17 titles to their name and over seven decades of history, it is inevitable that the Boston Celtics are among the most heavily represented teams in games played in the history of the NBA playoffs.

But who are the players who have played the most games for this storied franchise? Those 17 titles were won with the blood and sweat of an elite cadre of Celtics who spent more time than any others on the court to make those banners more than just a goal. The answers might surprise you, even if you consider yourself a keen follower of Celtics history — and how close some are to each other is another revelation.

Can you name the top 10 players in franchise history in terms of games played in the postseason? Scroll down, and see how you did.

The Boston Celtics have retired 24 jersey numbers – these are the players so honored

It’s no coincidence this team has the most retired jersey numbers with 17 banners hanging alongside them as of Oct. 2023.

There are no teams in the history of the NBA to have more titles than the Boston Celtics — at least not yet — so it makes sense there are no other franchises with more retired numbers to honor the players over the decades who earned and hung those banners.

In fact, there are no teams in any sport with more retired jersey numbers at 24 overall, a reflection of the excellence behind the Celtics mystique built by franchise architect Red Auerbach. From his signing with the team as coach and general manager onward, Boston became one of the premier teams of the greatest basketball league on the planet.

But who were the players for which those jerseys were retired? Let’s take a look at them all as of Oct. 2022.

Who are the top 10 Boston Celtics draft picks of all time?

The Boston Celtics have had a wealth of riches as far as the NBA draft is concerned.

The Boston Celtics have had a wealth of riches as far as the NBA draft is concerned, and it’s quite a challenge to try and rank the top 10 best draft picks ever made by the franchise. And given all the hardware pulled down over the years — as well as the long period of struggle between the late 1980s and late 2000s — trying to create a rubric that works in all eras is nearly as tough.

But that is our goal here, and at least in this assessment longevity with the team, individual contributions compared to teammates, and of course hardware will all be taken into consideration here.

So, let’s take a look at how they stack up over seven decades of history.