Tag: virgil vaughn

On this day: Bird goes for 32 points, Tatum 33 more, and IT for 33; Vaughn passes

Feb. 26 has long been a big day for scorers on the Celtics.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, three scoring greats of the storied franchise had games of note on the offensive side of the court dating all the way back to the late 1980s.

The first of the three scoring fiestas in question was put together by Boston’s iconic Hall of Fame small forward Larry Bird. He exploded on a hapless Milwaukee Bucks squad visiting the Celtics at the old Boston Garden on this date in Boston, Massachusetts in 1988. The Bucks would lose in no small part due to The Hick from French Lick’s (as Bird was sometimes called affectionately) scoring in a massive, 132-96 blowout.

Bird hung 32 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, and a block on the Bucks, hitting 13-of-20 field goal attempts and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc that night, leading all scorers.

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. 17

Today’s installment focuses on the 11 players who wore No. 17 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, 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 11 players who wore No. 17 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Wiz bested in ’18 East semis; Bing inducted; Nelson, Vaughn born

On this day, the Boston Celtics sent the Washington Wizards fishing in the ’18 East Semis, and guard Dave Bing was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics point guard Dave Bing was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield Massachusetts in 1990 along with iconic big man Elvin Hayes, legendary Philadelphia Warriors center Neil Johnston, and famed guard Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.

After spending the bulk of his career with the Detroit Pistons — a city he would one day become the mayor of — the Washington, D.C. native would play two seasons with his hometown Washington Bullets before signing with the Celtics as a free agent in the final season of his storied career.

He joined Boston for its 1977-78 campaign and scored 13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game before retiring from the NBA at the end of the season.

On this day: Bird goes for 32 points, Tatum 33 more, and IT for 33; Vaughn passes

Feb. 26 has long been a big day for scorers on the Celtics.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, three scoring greats of the storied franchise had games of note on the offensive side of the court dating all the way back to the late 1980s.

The first of the three scoring fiestas in question was put together by Boston’s iconic Hall of Fame small forward Larry Bird, who exploded on a hapless Milwaukee Bucks squad visiting the Celtics at the old Boston Garden on this date in 1988, which they would lose in no small part due to The Hick from French Lick’s (as Bird was sometimes called affectionately) scoring in a massive, 132-96 blowout.

Bird hung 32 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, and a block on the Bucks, hitting 13-of-20 field goal attempts and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc that night, leading all scorers.

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.