Tag: Wayne Embry

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.

On this day: Heinsohn hired as coach; Embry traded for; Douglas born

On this day, the Boston Celtics hired former player Tommy Heinsohn as coach, traded for Wayne Embry, and Sherman Douglas was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise hired their former star forward Tommy Heinsohn as head coach. A product of Holy Cross, Heinsohn had been drafted by the Celtics as a player in 1956, the Union City, New Jersey native would play nine seasons for the team, winning titles in eight of them among many other honors.

Heinsohn retired from playing in 1965 to do play-by-play announcing (he would again after coaching) and would be hired as coach four seasons later. He would lead the Celtics to an NBA-best 68-14 record in the 1972-73 season, garnering Coach of the Year honors.

He would win titles as a coach with Boston in 1974 and 1976 and was fired from the job after a disappointing 1977-78 season.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 28

Today’s installment focuses on the 14 players who wore No. 28 over the years as of August 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 14 players who wore No. 28 over the years as of August 2023.

On this day: McHale, Embry, Thompson inducted; Brown, Moore drafted

On this day, Kevin McHale, Wayne Embry, and John Thompson were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Jaylen Brown and E’Twaun Moore were drafted.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, franchise legends Kevin McHale, Wayne Embry, and John Thompson were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. McHale had been drafted by the Celtics out of the University of Minnesota with the third overall pick of the 1980 NBA draft.

That deal for that pick, which Boston had acquired along with big man Robert Parish in exchange for the top overall pick of that draft, was widely considered to be one of the most lopsided deals in league history. McHale would have an immediate impact on the young core being built around forward phenomenon Larry Bird.

Along with Parish, forward Cedric Maxwell, point guard Dennis Johnson and shooting guard Danny Ainge, the Celtics would form a dynasty he would win three championships with in the 1980s.

On this day: Pitino hired; DJ retired; 1965 NBA draft; 1968 expansion draft

On this day, Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and team president of the Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson retired, and 3 Cs were taken in the ’68 expansion draft.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former head coach and team president Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and general manager of the team in 1997. He had previously coached at the NBA level as a moderately successful head coach of the New York Knicks between 1987 and 1989, and most recently at Kentucky in the NCAA ranks.

His tenure with the Celtics went considerably worse, with the pressure to return to greatness after the longest losing streak in team history undoubtedly a factor in the several questionable ‘win-now’ decisions made by Pitino. The New Yorker would throw in the towel after four seasons with the franchise, amassing a 102-146 record in the regular season, good for a .411 winning percentage.

He never made the postseason in his role as team president and head coach.

On this day: Heinsohn hired as coach; Embry traded for; Douglas born

On this day, the Boston Celtics hired former player Tommy Heinsohn as coach, traded for Wayne Embry, and Sherman Douglas was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise hired their former star forward Tommy Heinsohn as head coach. A product of Holy Cross, Heinsohn had been drafted by the Celtics as a player in 1956, the Union City, New Jersey native would play nine seasons for the team, winning titles in eight of them among many other honors.

Heinsohn retired from playing in 1965 to do play-by-play announcing (he would again after coaching) and would be hired as coach four seasons later. He would lead the Celtics to an NBA-best 68-14 record in the 1972-73 season, garnering Coach of the Year honors.

He would win titles as a coach with Boston in 1974 and 1976 and was fired from the job after a disappointing 1977-78 season.

NBA creates new division trophies named after pioneering Black players, including several Boston Celtics alumni

The league invoked important Black players drawn from league history in their choice of names for the awards.

The NBA announced on Monday six new awards to be presented to the teams which win each of the league’s six divisions (Atlantic, Central, Southeast, Southwest Northwest, Pacific) that will be named after pioneering Black players drawn from the 75 years of history they played in the league, several of which are to be named for Boston Celtics alumni.

In addition to those named for players that never suited up for the Celtics — the Atlantic Division’s ‘Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton Trophy,’ the Southeast Division’s ‘Earl Lloyd Trophy,’ and the Southwest Division’s ‘Willis Reed Trophy’ — there will be a total of three more named for players who donned the green and white for at least some of their careers.

That includes the Central Division’s ‘Wayne Embry Trophy,’ the Northwest Division’s ‘Sam Jones Trophy,’ and the Pacific Division’s ‘Chuck Cooper Trophy.’

On this day: Pitino hired; DJ retired; 1968 expansion draft takes 3 Cs

On this day, Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and team president of the Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson retired, and 3 Cs were taken in the ’68 expansion draft.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former head coach and team president Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and general manager of the team in 1997. He had previously coached at the NBA level as a moderately successful head coach of the New York Knicks between 1987 and 1989, and most recently at Kentucky in the NCAA ranks.

His tenure with the Celtics went considerably worse, with the pressure to return to greatness after the longest losing streak in team history undoubtedly a factor in the several questionable ‘win-now’ decisions made by Pitino.The New Yorker would throw in the towel after four seasons with the franchise, amassing a 102 – 146 record in the regular season, good for a .411 winning percentage.

He never made the postseason in his role as team president and head coach.

21 Nov 1997: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics (left) talks to his guard Ron Mercer during a game against the New Jersey Nets at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics won the game 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport