On this day in Boston Celtics history, former founding member of the Celtics Wyndol Woodrow Gray passed away in 1994. Born just a few days less than 72 years earlier on March 30 in 1922, Gray played his college ball at Bowling Green State University between 1942 and 1945 with his time there interrupted by a tour in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War.
He helped carry Bowling Green to the final of the 1945 National Invitation Tournament and was named a consensus first-team All-American there as a result. He’d continue his education at Harvard University, which he helped lead to their first NCAA appearance in school history.
His collegiate career in the rear-view mirror, the Harvard product went on to play in the newly-formed Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league to the NBA) for the Celtics.
Happy birthday in heaven Wyndol Gray. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/qYMUAb9Vzq
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) March 20, 2021
Gray played 55 of the team’s 60 games in their inaugural season and averaged 6.4 points per game over that stretch.
The Bowling Green product would be traded to the (now defunct) St. Louis Bombers in exchange for guard Cecil Hankins.
We also lost guard Thomas Edward Kelly on this date in 2008. An alum of NYU who got himself drafted by Boston despite being a walk-on, Kelly played just 27 games for the Celtics after college before retiring to a career as an engineer.
The New Yorker averaged 7.1 points and 1.4 assists per game for Boston in the 1948-49 season.
It is also the date that the Celtics beat Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls at the old Boston Garden in 1988 behind monster games from legendary Celtics forwards Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.
Larry Legend put up 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists while McHale added 29 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks to secure the win.
His Airness scored just 26 points and 7 assists.
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