Tag: Woodrow Sauldsberry

On this day: Dennis Johnson jersey retired; Kendrick Perkins debut; Charles Claxton, Andre Turner born; Woody Sauldsberry signed

On this day, the Celtics retired DJ’s number, Perk played his first game for them, and Charles Claxton and Andre Turner were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics raised champion point guard Dennis Johnson’s jersey to the rafters, honoring the two titles and seven seasons the San Pedro, California native played for Boston. A product of both Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine — Johnson matriculated from the former, a junior college, to the latter — the point and shooting guard was taken with the 29th overall pick of the 1976 NBA draft by the (then) Seattle SuperSonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder).

DJ — as he was often called as a nickname — would play for that team and the Phoenix Suns before being dealt to Boston in 1983, winning a title with the Sonics in 1979.

The Celtics acquired Johnson for Rick Robey and draft assets, quite a steal in retrospect.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 18

Today’s installment focuses on the seven players who wore No. 18 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 seven players who wore No. 18 over the years as of September 2023.

On this day: Boston loses Game 3 to Raps in ’20 Disney bubble; Sauldsberry passes

Champion Celtics big man Woody Sauldsberry left us on this day in 2007, and Boston dropped Game 3 of the East Semis to the Raps in 2020.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team lost Game 3 of their 2020 NBA Playoffs’ Eastern Conference Semifinals series with the Toronto Raptors 104-103 to drop to a 2-1 lead after winning the first two contests of the series.

The loss came via a last-second 3-point shot from Toronto forward OG Anunoby that a court-long pass from point guard Kyle Lowry made possible despite the efforts of Boston big man Tacko Fall, the 7-foot-5 center brought in to make things difficult for Lowry. The loss came despite 29 points from veteran Celtics guard Kemba Walker, Boston’s first in the Disney bubble postseason.

The Celtics also saw forward Jaylen Brown add 19 points and 12 rebounds and swingman Jayson Tatum another 15 points, 9 boards, and 6 assists.

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: Dennis Johnson jersey retired; Kendrick Perkins debut; Charles Claxton, Andre Turner born; Woody Sauldsberry signed

On this day, the Celtics retired DJ’s number, Perk played his first game for them, and Charles Claxton and Andre Turner were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics raised champion point guard Dennis Johnson’s jersey to the rafters, honoring the two titles and seven seasons the San Pedro, California native played for Boston. A product of both Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine — Johnson matriculated from the former, a junior college, to the latter — the point and shooting guard was taken with the 29th overall pick of the 1976 NBA draft by the (then) Seattle SuperSonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder).

DJ — as he was often called as a nickname — would play for that team and the Phoenix Suns before being dealt to Boston in 1983, winning a title with the Sonics in 1979.

The Celtics acquired Johnson for Rick Robey and draft assets, quite a steal in retrospect.

On this day: Dennis Johnson jersey retired; Kendrick Perkins debut; Charles Claxton, Andre Turner born; Woody Sauldsberry signed

On this day, the Celtics retired DJ’s number, Perk played his first game for them, and Charles Claxton and Andre Turner were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics raised champion point guard Dennis Johnson’s jersey to the rafters, honoring the two titles and seven seasons the San Pedro, California native played for Boston. A product of both Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine — Johnson matriculated from the former, a junior college, to the latter — the point and shooting guard was picked up with the 29th overall pick of the 1976 NBA draft by the (then) Seattle SuperSonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder).

DJ — as he was often called as a nickname — would play for that team and the Phoenix Suns before being dealt to Boston in 1983, winning a title with the Sonics in 1979.

The Celtics acquired Johnson for Rick Robey and draft assets, quite a steal in retrospect.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 18

This is every player in Boston’s history who wore the Celtics’ No. 18 jersey for at least one game.

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. 18 over the years.

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).

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3