On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston forward Antoine Walker put up a career-high 49 points back in 1998. Drafted by the Celtics out of the University of Kentucky, the Chicago native tried to carry the Celts past the Washington Wizards, which saw a struggling Boston team lose 110-108 in a campaign the club went 36-46 for the season.
Walker, who shot 21 of 36 that night, tried to carry the team as he did all that year, but could not bring much joy to one of the darkest eras in Boston’s storied history – that night or that year.
Despite this — or perhaps because of it –Walker remains a fan favorite to this day.
It is the birthday of former Celtic shooting guard Todd Fitzgerald Day, born this day in 1970 in Decatur, Illinois.
He played his NCAA ball with the Arkansas Razorbacks and was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the eighth overall selection of the 1992 NBA draft. He would play for that franchise for three seasons before being dealt with Alton Lister to Boston for Sherman Douglas in 1995.
Day would play two seasons for the Celtics, averaging 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game before leaving Boston to join the Miami Heat.
It is also the birthday of ex-Celtic wing Marquis Antwane Daniels, born in Jupiter, Florida in 1981.
Daniels, who went undrafted out of Auburn, played for the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers before signing with Boston in 2009.
The Florida native would play three seasons with the Celtics — interrupted briefly by a trade to the Sacramento Kings, for which he played no games, oddly — averaging 4.9 points, 2 boards, and 1.3 assists per game.
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