On this day in Boston Celtics history, legendary big man Robert Parish scored the 20,000th point of his career with the storied franchise back in 1992. At the time of his considerable achievement, he became just the 16th player in NBA history to reach the lofty scoring plateau.
The iconic center was traded to the Celtics from the Golden State Warriors in 1980 after four seasons with Golden State in what is often considered one of the most lopsided trades in league history. Parish would win three titles with Boston in 1981, 1984 and 1986 as part of the so-called original Big Three of himself, small forward Larry Bird and power forward Kevin McHale.
Regarded as one of the greatest frontcourts ever assembled, Parish was the anchor that held it all together.
The feat would come in a 98-95 home win at the Boston Garden against the Philadelphia 76ers towards the end of Parish’s tenure with the Celtics (he would play two more seasons with Boston).
The Louisiana native would score 14 points, 10 rebounds, an assist, and 2 blocks in 36 minutes of floor time to set the career milestone — and it wouldn’t be his last.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic center Tyler Zeller, born this day in 1990 in Visalia, California.
The North Carolina alum — brother of fellow NBAers Cody Zeller, Luke Zeller, and the nephew of Al Eberhard — would be drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 17th pick of the 2012 NBA draft.
Zeller would soon be dealt with Kelenna Azubuike to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jae Crowder, Jared Cunningham and Bernard James in a draft-night deal, however.
He would play 2 seasons with the Cavs before they again traded him. This time, it was to the Celtics as part of a three-team trade sending Marcus Thornton to Boston from the Brooklyn Nets to use their cap space so LeBron James could return to Cleveland from the Miami Heat.
Zeller played a total of 3 seasons with the Celtics, averaging 7.1 points, 4 boards, and an assist per game.
Happy birthday Dirk Minnifield! This dunk isn’t from when you were with the good guys, but it’s too damn awesome not to post. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/8cUowsRCOJ
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 17, 2021
It is also the birthday of former Boston point guard Dirk Minniefield, born this day in 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky.
An alum of his hometown University of Kentucky, Minniefield would play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors. He then joined the Celtics as a free agent in 1987 for what would be the final stop of his NBA career.
He appeared in 61 games for Boston, recording 3.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game with the franchise.
Finally, it was on this date that Boston set the record for the most 3-point attempts in a regular-season game for the franchise with 46.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, they only made 7 of them, a major factor behind the team losing the contest to the New York Knicks 105-75.
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