On this day in Boston Celtics history, legendary Boston Celtics big man Kevin McHale was born in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1957.
McHale would not stray far from home to play his college ball, playing for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, where he won All-Big Ten honors in 1979 and 1980. The 6-foot-10 power forward would be taken third in the 1980 NBA draft after general manager Red Auerbach dealt Boston’s No. 1 pick for center Robert Parish and the selection used to take McHale. The deal would set up the Celtics to have one of the greatest frontcourts of all time along with small forward Larry Bird.
The Minnesotan would make NBA All-Rookie First Team in his inaugural season in the league and would win his first title at the end of it in 1981.
He would make his first of seven All-Star teams in 1984 along with a Sixth Man of the Year award, as well as his second title.
McHale would win his third and last title in 1986, and many other honors over the course of his 13-year career with the Celtics, the only team he ever played for at the NBA level.
He would be elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and averaged 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic power forward Tom Gugliotta.
Born on this day in 1969 in Huntington Station, New York, Gugliotta played collegiately for N.C. State, and was drafted 6th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the (then) Washington Bullets (now, Wizards).
The New Yorker would play for that franchise, the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz before signing with Boston as a free agent in 2004.
He would play just 20 games for the Celtics in the 2004-05 season before he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks with Gary Payton, Michael Stewart, and draft assets for Antoine Walker in February of 2005.
The Huntington Station native averaged 1.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game with Boston.
Finally, the New York Knicks scored 88 points on the Celtics in just one half of a 143-140 win held at a neutral site in Providence, Rhode Island in 1963.
It was one of the highest-scoring games in league history
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