Tag: Tony Lavelli

On this day: Mo Mahoney born; Tony Lavelli debuts; Gene Guarilia passes

On this day in Celtics history, Mo Mahoney was born, Tony Lavelli debuted and Gene Guarilia left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, former Boston Celtic forward Francis H. Mahoney was born in 1927.

Better known as “Mo” for a nickname during his tenure with the Celtics, the New Yorker played his college ball with Rhode Island’s Brown University. During his time there, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in English, and unlike today’s players, Mahoney did not make the jump to pro ball in the NBA immediately after college, electing to serve his country instead, enlisting in the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War between 1950 and 1952.

Before he went overseas, however, Mahoney was selected by the Celtics with the 62nd overall pick (there were many more rounds in that era) of the 1950 NBA draft.

Who are the 10 WORST draft picks in Boston Celtics history?

Plenty of ink has been spilled about the worst draft picks made by the Celtics — this is our view.

Plenty of ink has been spilled about the best draft picks made by the Boston Celtics, and more than a few Monday morning quarterbacks have dissected the selections made by a given Celtics GM over the decades. Our task here is to make a case for the latter, but also doing it while avoiding the usual use of hindsight that tends to use contemporary knowledge of how the players who were drafted later turned out.

While the urge to use that awareness is strong, often there are too many factors to consider to blame the front office for not knowing how other prospects were going to pan out. Another criterion is that we are only focusing on players taken in the modern lottery range of picks 1 through 14; it’s rare to find high-value players outside that range.

So, with that in mind, what were the 10 worst draft picks in Celtics history?

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.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 11

Today’s installment focuses on the 29 players who wore No. 11 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 29 players who wore No. 11 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, Woodrow Sauldsberry born

On this day, former Boston big men Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, and Woodrow Sauldsberry were born in 1926, 1917, and 1934 respectively.

On this date in Boston Celtics history, forward Tony Lavelli was born in 1926 in Somerville, Massachusetts. A product of Yale University, Lavelli was drafted fourth overall by the Celtics in the 1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to today’s NBA) draft, the final such draft before the league became the NBA of today after merging with the U.S. National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949.

The former Bulldog wasn’t with the team for the long haul, however. The Celtics short-timer played just one season (in fact, a mere 56 games) with the team before leaving in free agency to play for the New York Knicks at the end of the 1949-50 season.

Lavelli averaged 8.8 points per game with the team (they had yet to begin recording rebounds).

On this day: Mo Mahoney born; Tony Lavelli debuts; Gene Guarilia passes

On this day in Celtics history, Mo Mahoney was born, Tony Lavelli debuted and Gene Guarilia left us.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, former Boston Celtic forward Francis H. Mahoney was born in 1927.

Better known as “Mo” during his tenure with the Celtics, the New Yorker played his college ball with Rhode Island’s Brown University. During his time there, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in English, and unlike today’s players, Mahoney did not make the jump to pro ball in the NBA immediately after college, electing to serve his country instead, enlisting in the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War between 1950 and 1952.

Before he went overseas, however, Mahoney was selected by the Celtics with the 62nd overall pick (there were many more rounds in that era) of the 1950 NBA draft.

On this day: Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, Woodrow Sauldsberry born

On this day, former Boston big men Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, and Woodrow Sauldsberry were born in 1926, 1917, and 1934 respectively.

On this date in Boston Celtics history, forward Tony Lavelli was born in 1926 in Somerville, Massachusetts. A product of Yale University, Lavelli was drafted fourth overall by the Celtics in the 1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to today’s NBA) draft, the final such draft before the league became the NBA of today after merging with the U.S. National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949.

The former Bulldog wasn’t with the team for the long haul, however. The Celtics short-timer played just one season (in fact, a mere 56 games) with the team before leaving in free agency to play for the New York Knicks at the end of the 1949-50 season.

Lavelli averaged 8.8 points per game with the team (they had yet to begin recording rebounds).

On this day: Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, Woodrow Sauldsberry born

On this day, former Boston Celtics big men Tony Lavelli, Ed Sadowski, and Woodrow Sauldsberry were born in 1926, 1917, and 1934 respectively.

On this day, former Boston Celtics forward Tony Lavelli was born in 1926 in Somerville, Massachusetts.

A product of Yale University, Lavelli was drafted fourth overall by the Celtics in the 1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to today’s NBA) Draft, the final such draft before the league became the NBA of today after merging with the U.S. National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949.

The former Bulldog wasn’t with the team for the long haul, however — Lavelli played just one season (in fact, a mere 56 games) with the team before leaving in free agency to play for the New York Knicks at the end of the 1949-1950 season.

Lavelli averaged 8.8 points per game with the team (they had yet to begin recording rebounds).

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