On this day in Boston Celtics history, in Newport, Kentucky, Celtics champion center Dave Cowens was born in 1948. Cowens played collegiately with the Florida State Seminoles and would be taken by the Celtics fourth overall in the 1970 NBA draft on the advice of big man legend Bill Russell despite the fact that the Florida State product stood only 6-foot-9.
It didn’t matter much that he was undersized, as he averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds a game in his rookie season, earning All-Rookie First Team honors in the process. It’s a good thing the Celtics took Russell’s endorsement to heart.
Cowens would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the team, proving Russell right and then some.
He would win two titles with Boston in 1974 and 1976, be named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1973, an All-Star game MVP that same year, eight All-Star bids, three All-NBA elections, two All-Defense teams, and many other honors in his 11-season career.
In his ten seasons with the Celtics, Cowens averaged 18.2 points, 14 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
It is also the birthday of Boston Celtics shooting guard Romeo Langford, born today in 1999 in New Albany, Indiana.
The 2018 Indiana Mr. Basketball winner stayed in his home state for college, playing for the Indiana Hoosiers for his sole season at the NCAA level.
Plagued by injury, his shot was off for much of his time with the Hoosiers, causing his stock to slide in the draft to the Celtics range, which took him 14th overall in the 2019 NBA draft.
Despite a litany of minor, unrelated injuries, the rookie had a solid first few seasons with the team, even defending some of the league’s toughest covers in short stints during meaningful minutes before being dealt to the San Antonio Spurs with Josh Richardson for Derrick White at the 2022 NBA trade deadline.
It is also the date that the team would waive guard Chris Ford in 1982 after playing the bulk of four seasons with the team, one of them resulting in a title in 1981.
The Villanova alum averaged 10.3 points, 2.3 boards, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game with the Celtics.
It was on this date in 1958 that forward Benny Swain played his first game for the Celtics, a 127-125 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Texas Southern alumnus had a solid debut, putting up 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting.
Exactly nine years later, forward Johnny Jones would play his first game for Boston, a 118-104 win over the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.
The Washingtonian would have a modest debut, logging 2 points and a single board for the Celtics.
It was also the debut date for Javonte Green, though much later in 2019 in a 112-106 home win against the Toronto Raptors.
The Radford alum didn’t get much of a chance to show what he could do, however, with only 4 seconds of floor time in which he went scoreless.
Finally, it is the date that Celtics icon Bill Sharman left us in 2013. Born in Abilene, Texas in 1926, Sharman played his college ball with USC before being drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1950.
After that team disbanded in 1951, he would be traded to Boston by the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons, who ended up with Sharman in the dispersal draft.
Sharman would play 10 seasons for the Celtics, winning 4 titles, 8 All-Star bids, 7 All-NBA team elections, and many other honors on his way to a Hall of Fame career as a player.
He would also later be elected to the Hall as a coach, joining former teammates Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn as one of just five persons so honored.
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