On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise made history by starting the first all-Black starting five in NBA history back in 1964. The Celtics were on the road to play a regular season game with the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks when Hall of Fame power forward Tommy Heinsohn ended up a scratch due to an injury he sustained previously.
In that era, there was a so-called “gentlemen’s agreement” that acted as an unspoken agreement to always have at least one white player on the court at all times, supposedly in the interest of racial harmony.
