On this day in Boston Celtics history, point and shooting guard Paul Douglas Westphal was born in 1950 in Torrance, California. A product of the University of Southern California Trojans basketball program that saw him play at an All-American level, Westphal would be picked up with the 10th overall pick of the 1972 NBA draft by the Celtics, with whom he would play three seasons between 1972 and 1975.
The Californian floor general would win a title with Boston in 1974 before he was traded with draft assets in exchange for Phoenix Suns point guard Charlie Scott in May 1975.
Westphal would average 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game across 224 contests played for the Celtics in the three seasons he was with the franchise.
Happy birthday Darren Daye! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/mvj3Q8U5GV
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) November 30, 2020
Westphal shares that birthday with former Celtic small forward Darren Daye, born on this date in 1960 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Daye played collegiately for UCLA, and was taken 57th overall by the (then) Washington Bullets (now, Wizards) in the 1983 NBA draft.
The Des Moine native would play for that team and the Chicago Bulls before joining the team as a free agent in December 1986.
He would play 108 games over two seasons with the team, logging 4.8 points, 1.9 boards, and 1.4 assists per game.
The pair have the same birthday as ex-Boston big man Mark Blount, who came into this world on this day in 1975 in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Blount played his NCAA ball with the Pitt Panthers before being selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 54th overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft.
Happy birthday Mark Blount! Paul Pierce has a present for you: #Celtics pic.twitter.com/NiKCeXjHeY
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) November 30, 2020
He would play several seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), International Basketball League (IBL) and United States Basketball League (USBL) as well as overseas in that era’s developmental pipeline before signing with the Celtics as a free agent for the first time in 2000.
We say “first time” because Blount would play another stint with the team after leaving for the Denver Nuggets as a free agent in 2002.
The Nuggets would deal him back to Boston just six months later with Mark Bryant for Shammond Williams.
Blount would be dealt again in 2006 with Marcus Banks, Ricky Davis, and Justin Reed to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Dwayne Jones, Michael Olowokandi, and Wally Szczerbiak.
He recorded 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and an assist per game while with the team.
Finally, the trio have their birthday in common with current Celtic power forward Grant Dean Williams, born in 1998 in Houston, Texas.
A proud Tennessee Volunteer product where he won 2019 SEC Player of the Year honors, Williams was taken 22nd overall by the Celtics in the 2019 NBA draft.
He averaged 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game with Boston — happy birthday!
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