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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Justin Quinn

On this day: Will Bynum signs; Roy Rogers born; Munroe passes

On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard Will Bynum signed a camp deal with the storied franchise after going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft. Bynum, a native of Chicago, Illinois, played his college ball at the University of Arizona and then later would transfer to Georgia Tech.

Bynum helped lead the latter of the two schools to an NCAA title game with a late make against the Oklahoma State Cowboys before trying his luck in the draft that year, then signing with Boston later that summer when no teams selected him. He would not end up making the team, however — Bynum would find himself waived a little more than two months later, on October 25.

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The Chicagoan would become a Celtic again briefly many years later, after stints with the Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons.

He would be traded to Boston in exchange for Joel Anthony in 2014, then waived for the second time by the Celtics nine years and two days after the first time.

Bynum would never play a game with the team.

It is the birthday of former Boston forward Roy Rogers, born this day in 1973 in Linden, Alabama.

Rogers went to Alabama to play NCAA basketball and was drafted with the 22nd overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft by the (then) Vancouver (now, Memphis) Grizzlies before being dealt to the Celtics at the end of his rookie season.

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

He would play just nine games for Boston before being dealt yet again, this time with Dee Brown, Chauncey Billups, and John Thomas in a trade that brought back Zan Tabak, Kenny Anderson, and Popeye Jones.

Rogers averaged 0.8 points and 0.6 boards per game in his brief tenure with the team, and would later return to the club as an assistant coach.

Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrates a 3-point shot against the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter in Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 19, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

It is also the date of the Celtics defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 128 – 101 to take a 2 – 0 series lead in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs held in the Disney bubble due to the pandemic.

“I’m playing confident,” Tatum said after the game (via the AP) in which he scored 33 points to lead all Celtics. “Just trying to be aggressive and trying to make the right play. I say that a lot, but that’s as easy as I can break it down.”

Finally, it is also the date of the passing of former Boston guard George Munroe, who played just 21 games for the Celtics in 1947-48.

The Dartmouth product logged 3.4 points per game over that stretch.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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