On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston shooting guard Charles Bradley was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, in 1959. Bradley played his college ball at the University of Wyoming and was selected with the 23rd pick of the 1981 NBA draft by the Celtics, picked ahead of teammate and future general manager of the team Danny Ainge.
He played two seasons with Boston in a reserve role, putting up averages of 3.3 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists, and as many steals per game over 102 games. The Havre de Grace native was waived by the Celtics in October of 1983.
He then signed with the (then) Seattle Supersonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder), his final stop as an NBA player.
Happy birthday in heaven Bones McKinney. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/wXM0qw9HcH
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 1, 2022
It is also the date that we lost former Celtics small forward Horace Albert “Bones” McKinney in 1997. A native of Lowland, North Carolina who played at both North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina, McKinney played most of his six-season NBA career with the team that drafted him, the (now defunct) Washington Capitals.
After that team went belly up, he was picked up by Boston in the dispersal draft, and played a total of 97 games for the team over two seasons, averaging 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game before retiring as a player in 1952.
Rest in peace.
It is also the anniversary of two playoff wins since the season of Boston’s last title in 2007-08.
The first was a 92-88 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference finals that saw Ray Allen lead the Celtics with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Pierce added 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Rasheed Wallace chipped in 13 points off the bench. “I honestly say we lost ourselves,” Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said via the Associated Press. “I think we’ve found ourselves again.”
It is also the date of a 107-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of the 2012 NBA Eastern Conference semifinals to give Boston a 2-1 series lead.
Boston was led by 27 points and 13 rebounds from Kevin Garnett and 24 points and 12 rebounds from Pierce. Point guard Rajon Rondo added 23 points and 14 assists, while forward Mickael Pietrus added 13 points off the bench.
“(KG) got the ball in his spots,” Rondo said courtesy of the AP “He hit a couple of fadeaways. A lot of those guys are smaller than him, so he was just able to turn around and shoot over them.”
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