On this day in Boston Celtics history, point and shooting guard Lester Hudson III was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1984. Hudson would be drafted by the Celtics with the 58th pick of the 2009 NBA draft after playing his collegiate basketball at Southwest Tennessee Community College and at the University of Tennessee Martin. The Memphis native garnered All-American honors with the latter, the very first in UT Martin history to have such a recognition awarded to them.
After being taken by the Celtics in the draft, it was clear his game was not quite up to the level to earn much playing time with a team that was aiming for an NBA title, with the Banner 17 crew back at it trying to earn another title.
To that end, the team developed a plan to make use of the league’s developmental league to help bring Hudson along.
He would spend his time split between the parent club in Boston and their NBA D League (as the G League was called then) the Maine Red Claws (now, Celtics) over the first few months of the 2009-10 season.
Ultimately, it did not work out for the UT Martin product, with Boston waiving Hudson in January 2010. He logged 1.4 points per game during his brief time as a Celtic.
It is also on this date in 2021 that the Celtics dealt Tristan Thompson to the Sacramento Kings as part of a three-team deal with the Atlanta Hawks.
In return, Boston got big man Bruno Fernando and guard Kris Dunn.
Finally, it is also the anniversary of Boston blowing out the Toronto Raptors 122-100 in the Orlando bubble in 2020, with the Celtics leading by as much as 40 points earlier in the game.
The Celtics were led by 20 points and 6 rebounds from Jaylen Brown, and 18 points and 7 boards from Jayson Tatum. Brad Wanamaker chipped in 15 points off of the bench.
“We’re enjoying each other and building chemistry,” said Tatum at the time via the AP.
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