On this day in Boston Celtics history, a trio of former Boston Celtics were born. The first of which is former Celtics guard Don Chaney, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today in 1946. Chaney would play his college ball at the University of Houston and would be picked up 12th overall by Boston in the 1968 NBA Draft.
He would win a championship in his rookie year with the Celtics, and another with them in 1974 before season-long stints with the Spirits of St. Louis in the ABA, and rival Los Angeles Lakers. Chaney would return to Boston to finish his career in 1977, retiring as a player in 1979 with the Celtics, averaging 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds over 10 seasons with the team.
He would go on to coach basketball for 22 more years and is the only Celtic who played with both Boston legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird.
It is also the birthday of big man Ed Macauley (born in 1928), who won an NIT championship with St. Louis before being drafted by the St. Louis Bombers in a BAA (a precursor to the NBA) territorial draft.
That team disbanded at the end of the season, and Macauley would be picked up by Boston in a dispersal draft.
The St. Louis native would end up winning MVP of the first NBA All-Star game the following season and would get the nod five more times while with the Celtics, until the end of the 1955-56 season.
Macauley was traded to the St. Louis Hawks that summer with Cliff Hagan for legendary big man Bill Russell. He averaged 18.9 points, 8.1 boards, and 3.7 assists per game with the Celtics.
#Top 1990 Fleer Update #BasketBall – #U-9 – Brian Shaw – Boston Celtics https://t.co/lAECj38eXm #Sports pic.twitter.com/W3DiGID5pQ
— Boston Celtics Arena (@BostonCeltics1v) June 30, 2017
Guard Brian Shaw was also born on this day, in the city of Oakland, California in 1966.
He was picked up by Boston 24th overall pick of the 1988 NBA draft out of UC Santa Barbara, signing a one-year deal to play with the team, then heading to Il Messaggero Roma, an Italian team, for two years.
#Top 1991-92 #NBA Hoops #17 Brian Shaw Boston Celtics #BasketBall #Card https://t.co/cz9tRIoone #Sports pic.twitter.com/FHr0tnzUkb
— Boston Celtics Arena (@BostonCeltics1v) August 26, 2017
In January of 1990, Shaw signed a five-year deal with the Celtics but informed the team he planned on laying the following season with Il Messaggero Roma.
A contract dispute ensued, and Shaw lost, forcing his return to Boston. The Oakland native would be traded to the Miami Heat in 1992 for point guard Sherman Douglas.
Boston Celtics: On this day, #Celtics nearly move to North Shore; Alvin Julian hired https://t.co/ZcpCIUsam0
— Marta Wagner (@MartaWa79756588) April 12, 2020
It is also the day that former Celtics coach Alvin “Doggie” Julian was fired by Boston in 1950 after a disappointing 47-81 record over two seasons.
Julian had been the college coach of Celtics luminary Bob Cousy at Holy Cross before helming Boston.
Today is also the anniversary of a pair of wins since the season Boston won its 17th championship. The first was a 100-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that snapped a six-game winning streak by the latter.
Paul Pierce scored 25 points and 9 rebounds to secure the win, and Kevin Garnett added 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Guard Rajon Rondo scored 10 points and 14 assists.
Boston also beat the Indiana Pacers on this day in 2017, winning 109-100 behind a 25-point, 5-assist performance by point guard Isaiah Thomas.
Guard Avery Bradley added 18 points and 8 rebounds, and forward Al Horford contributed 15 points, 8 boards, and 8 assists in the win.
Today is also the day that the Celtics retired the jersey of Boston legend Reggie Lewis posthumously in 1995
Seen by many as the heir to Larry Bird and the bridge to a post-Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale era, Boston instead found itself staggering from the loss of a franchise cornerstone player for the second time in less than ten years.
No. 35 was raised up to the rafters as former teammates Xavier McDaniels and Sherman Douglas held up his framed jersey in memoriam of Lewis’ tragic passing due to a heart defect — rest in peace.
It was also on this day in 2013 we lost point guard Ray Williams.
Drafted by the New York Knicks in 1977 after playing collegiately for San Jacinto College and the University of Minnesota, Williams would play for the (then) New Jersey Nets (now, Brooklyn), the (then) Kansas City Kings (now, Sacramento), and the Knicks again before signing with the Celtics.
The New Yorker played just 23 games for Boston before signing with the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 6.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game with the Celtics. Rest in peace.
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