Tag: Vitaly Potapenko

Who are the best international players to play for the Boston Celtics?

From Charlie Hoefer to Alaa Abdenaby to Rick Fox to Kristaps Porzingis, there has been no shortage of players who were born abroad who have worn the green and white.

The Boston Celtics are a storied franchise for more than just their titles. They have been a trailblazing team in terms of signing and fielding players from all over the world, a philosophy that started in their first season.

From Charlie Hoefer to Alaa Abdelnaby to Rick Fox to Kristaps Porzingis, there has been no shortage of players born abroad who have worn the green and white.

But who were the best and who were the worst? What criteria should we use to judge them across eras? In the spirit of the annual arrival of #RankingSeason, the thing to do is try.

And try the hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” did on a recent episode.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear how they assessed the international Celtics of all time.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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12 Boston Celtics included in HoopsHype ‘best player in country history’ list

Let’s take a look at which Boston alumni made the cut — and what countries they hail from.

The Boston Celtics are a founding member and the most storied ball club of the league now known as the NBA, having been among the handful of teams from the era of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) days as the precursor league that would grow into today’s NBA was called.

So it should not surprise that the players who have worn the green and white over the nearly eight decades of existence of the franchise have at times been among the best to play the game anywhere in the world. In fact, there is a notable number of Celtics alumni present in a HoopsHype assessment of the best players to come from specific countries around the globe.

Let’s take a look at which Boston alumni made the cut — and what countries they hail from.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 52

This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 52 jersey for at least one game as of Aug. 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 seven players who wore No. 52 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

11 Boston Celtics alumni changing places in redraft of NBA’s 1996 class

Let’s take a look at which Celtics alumni landed where.

As Hoops Hype’s staff keep themselves busy reassessing the draft orders of the last few decades over the years, there are always a fair number of Boston Celtics alumni making moves in their re-drafts as a result.

In the H/H reassessment of the 1996 NBA draft class, a total of 11 Boston alumni ended up seeing their draft stock shift with the benefit of hindsight lifting their fortunes. And while they won’t see any pay raises or anything else of that sort given the fictitious nature of such an exercise, it’s also nice to see this group get their flowers, too.

Let’s take a look at which Celtics alumni landed where.

On this day: Bob Cousy goes for 50, Vitaly Potapenko, Norman Cook born

The Celtics saw legendary guard Bob Cousy go for 50 points in the team’s first-ever series-clincher in a 4-OT thriller on this date in 1953.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the franchise won their first-ever playoff series against the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, Philadelphia 76ers) in 1953 at home behind a 50-point eruption from legendary Boston point guard Bob Cousy in a 111-105, four-overtime affair.

The win was a most spectacular one, coming in a four-overtime victory over the Syracuse Nationals at the old Boston Garden, and saw Cooz head to the free throw line for 32 attempts in the pre-shot-clock contest, of which he managed to convert a very healthy 30 of them. Several records were set in the contest, including Cousy’s 30 points at the line being the most in league history up to that point.

Two players from the Nationals — Red Rocha and Paul Seymour — set the record for most minutes played in a playoff game at 67, with Cousy right behind them at 66.

On this day: Pandemic pause anniversary; Russell’s 49 boards; Potapenko trade

On this date in Celtics history, the pandemic began for many, Russell ripped down 49 boards, and Potapenko was dealt to Boston.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the NBA ground to a halt in 2020 as the world came to terms with a growing pandemic. The league canceled games following a positive COVID-19 test by Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert.

The Celtics were in Wisconsin to play the Milwaukee Bucks and ended up stranded in Milwaukee while the team was quarantined briefly. They had played the Jazz not long before Gobert’s positive test.

That test set in motion the longest midseason shutdown in league history, throwing the NBA calendar into a disarray that only recently returned to normal. It resulted in the season being finished in a bubble environment at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.

To say it changed the league and its trajectory would be an immense understatement, and it continues reshaping the world we live in, to say nothing of the NBA.

On this day: Anderson, Potapenko dealt; Pressey inked; Archibald cut

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded Kenny Anderson, Vitaly Potapenko, and Joseph Forte, signed Phil Pressey and waived Nate Archibald.

On this day in 2002, the Boston Celtics traded point guard Kenny Anderson with shooting guard Joseph Forte and big man Vitaly Potapenko to the Seattle SuperSonics for power forward Vin Baker and combo guard Shammond Williams.

Anderson had himself been dealt to the Celtics in 1998 from the Toronto Raptors with Popeye Jones and Žan Tabak for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers and John Thomas, and had become an important part of the team in the interim.

Boston even made it as far as the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals with Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker during the Queens’ native’s tenure with the team.

Anderson averaged 11.3 points, 3 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while with the Celtics.

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