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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Justin Quinn

On this day: Former Boston forward Willie Naulls born; Jimmy Oliver signed

On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion small forward Willie Naulls was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1934. A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played for Hall of Fame coaching legend John Wooden, Naulls was selected with the ninth pick of the 1956 NBA draft by the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.

He played 19 games with that organization before being traded to the New York Knicks early in his rookie year. Naulls spent the bulk of his career with the Knicks, who named him the first Black team captain in league history.

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It wasn’t the last trade of his career of course, or you would not be reading about him on this site.

In December of 1962, Naulls was dealt to the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors, who dealt him to Boston the following September.

The Texan wing finished his career as a Celtic, earning three titles with the team between 1964 and 1966.

He was part of the first all-Black starting lineup in 1964 with Bill Russell, Sam and K.C. Jones (no relation), and Satch Sanders.

Naulls averaged 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a Celtic, retiring from the sport in 1966.

It is also the date the Celtics signed shooting guard Jimmy Oliver as an unrestricted free agent in 1993.

A former Purdue Boilermaker, Oliver was selected 39th in the 1991 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Released by that team after his rookie season, Oliver bounced around in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA — the equivalent of the G League today) before joining Boston, with which he played 44 games in the 1993-94 season.

He averaged 4.9 points and a rebound per game as a Celtic.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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