On this day, the Boston Celtics selected two players of note in the 1975 NBA draft. The first was Jerome Anderson, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of the University of West Virginia, who was taken with the 53rd pick.
The Mullens, West Virginia, native won a championship with the Celtics in his sole season with the team (1975-76). Anderson recorded 2.8 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game over 5.7 minutes per game in his rookie season. Anderson’s tenure in the league was not an especially long one, however, as he failed to stick with the team beyond his inaugural season in the league.
In October of 1976, he was waived and picked up by the Indiana Pacers, his final stop in the NBA.
Boston drafted power forward Tom Boswell, a 6-foot-9 big man out of South Carolina, with the 17th pick.
Boswell also won a ring with the Celtics at the end of the 1975-76 season and played three seasons with the team.
He averaged 5.9 points, 3.9 boards, and 0.4 assists per game with Boston. He left in free agency to join the Denver Nuggets.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic big man Raef LaFrentz, who was born in Hampton, Iowa, in 1976. The Iowan came from the Dallas Mavericks to Boston in a deal with Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch, and draft assets in exchange for Tony Delk and Antoine Walker.
LaFrentz would be with the Celtics for three seasons between 2003 and 2006, recording 9.2 points, 5.8 points, and 1.3 assists per contest.
He was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers with Dan Dickau and Randy Foye for Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft considerations.
Finally, it is also the anniversary of Jayson Tatum winning the first-ever Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player award, coming after dispatching the Miami Heat 100-96 in Game 7.
“It’s an honor,” said Tatum postgame via ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “It still doesn’t even seem real right now. I’m just extremely happy and grateful for all of this.”
“Regardless of how long I’ve been in the league, I’m not too far removed from when I was in high school and when I was dreaming about moments like this.”
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