On this day in Boston Celtics history, iconic former Celtic point guard Stephon Marbury was born in 1977 in Brooklyn, New York, New York.
Marbury joined the Celtics as the last stop of his NBA career. He signed with the storied franchise after falling out with the coach of the New York Knicks at that time — Mike D’Antoni — once he had successfully negotiated a buyout with the Knicks. Unfortunately for Starbury (as he was sometimes called for a nickname) his time in Boston with the Celtics did not go especially well as the Georgia Tech product did not mesh well with his new club.
His sole season in Boston — by far the worst of his NBA career — paled compared to his career averages of 19.3 points and 7.6 assists per game (Marbury put up only 3.8 points and 3.3 assists per game with the Celtics in 2008-09).
This would lead the Celtics to only offer him the veteran’s minimum for the following season, which the New Yorker wouldn’t accept.
Marbury would instead head to China to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), where he had a long and successful career as a player, and as a coach after he retired from the game.
It is also the anniversary of the trade which sent former Boston wing Joe Johnson to the Phoenix Suns in 2002.
The trade netted Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk in exchange for Randy Brown, Milt Palacio, and draft assets in addition to Johnson.
It was something of a loss in retrospect given Johnson’s growth as a player and the fact that Rogers left in free agency, and Delk in a trade after playing only 116 games combined for the club.
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