On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard Jerome McKinley “Gerald” Henderson Sr. — better known to Celtics fans as Gerald Henderson — was traded to the Seattle Supersonics for the draft pick that would be used to select forward Len Bias in 1986.
Henderson was an alum of Virginia Commonwealth University who was selected 64th overall in the 1978 NBA draft (there were several more rounds in that era) by the San Antonio Spurs but did not make the team, cut before the start of the season. He would play a stint with the Tucson Gunners of the Western Basketball Association (WBA) before joining the Celtics as a free agent in 1979.
He would play for the team for parts of five seasons.
The Virginian would win two titles with Boston in 1981 and 1984, famously helping secure Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals with a game-tying steal in the tilt’s final seconds.
Henderson would score 8.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and a steal per game while with the club.
It is also the birthday of former Boston big man Mel Counts, born this day in 1941 in Coos Bay, Oregon.
Counts played his collegiate basketball at his hometown Oregon State and would be taken seventh overall in the 1964 NBA draft by the Celtics.
Counts shares his birthday with former Celtics wing Aaron Nesmith, born this day in Charleston, South Carolina in 1999.
Picked up by Boston out of Vanderbilt with the 14th overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft, Nesmith’s high-energy play was not enough to make up for his yips at the NBA level for Boston, who dealt him to the Indiana Pacers early in the 2022 offseason as part of the package bringing Malcolm Brogdon to the team.
Nesmith averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 boards per game while with the Celtics.
Finally, it is also the official date of the jersey retirements of Celtics legends Ed Macauley and Bob Cousy.
We say official because the actual ceremony took place 10 days later — today was just the start of the first season (1963-64) after Cousy retired, and where the team lists the event as having happened.
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