On this day in Boston Celtics history, in 1993, ground was broken on what would become the team’s home in the modern era, the so-called “new” Boston Garden currently referred to as TD Garden.
Boston had previously played in the building built in 1928 that began its life as the “Boston Madison Square Garden” (it had been designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, the intellectual author of the third iteration of the New York City arena of the same name sans ‘Boston,’ thus the name later shortened to ‘Boston Garden’) from its founding in 1946 as one of the premier teams of the Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league of the NBA) up until 1995.
The Celtics had been looking for a new arena back into the 1970s, nearly moving to Revere, Massachusetts before Delaware North — the company that owns the building and the NHL team the Boston Bruins — secured permission and funding for building TD Garden.
It is also the date that the team won Game 4 of the 1969 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in an 89-88 victory on their way to winning their 11th championship in seven games.
The win saw a record-low number of assists for any game in the NBA Finals, with a combined 21 assists from both clubs recorded in the game.
The eventual sweep was an unexpected one due to the arrival of longtime foil of Celtics player-coach Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, who was dealt to Los Angeles from the Philadelphia 76ers over the previous summer.
Point guard Jerry West of the Lakers would later be awarded the series’ Most Valuable Player award despite the loss, the sole time in league history that has occurred.
Happy birthday in heaven Wyndol Gray. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/gf7biHAvRd
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) March 20, 2022
It was also on this day in 1947 that the team traded wing Wyndol Gray to the (now defunct) St. Louis Bombers for guard Cecil Hankins on April 29th.
Gray averaged 6.4 points and 0.9 assists per game — rebounds were not yet recorded — in his sole season with Boston, its first in existence.
Today is the birthday of Celtics small forward Christopher Johnson, who came into this world in Orlando, Florida in 1990.
A product of Dayton, Johnson played for the Memphis Grizzlies before playing his way onto Boston’s roster off a 10-day deal in 2014.
The Florida native played a total of 40 games for the team that season before being waived in the offseason, averaging 6.3 points, and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Johnson shares his born day with former Boston big man David Lee, who was birthed in St. Louis, Missouri in 1983.
A Florida Gator at the NCAA level, Lee was picked up by the New York Knicks in the 2005 NBA draft and played for that team and the Golden State Warriors before being traded to the Celtics for Chris Babb and Gerald Wallace in 2015.
The Missourian forward played just 30 games for Boston, putting up 7.1 points, 4.3 boards, and 1.8 assists per contest while with the team.
Happy birthday in heaven Mo Mahoney! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/kB7tc7IB6L
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) November 20, 2020
Sadly, today is also the date that Francis H. “Mo” Mahoney passed away in 2008. The Brooklyn native was selected by the Celtics out of Brown late in the 1950 NBA draft.
But, before he’d play for Boston, Mahoney spent two years in the US Army fighting in Korea, arriving to play for the Celtics until the 1952-53 season, in which he played a mere 6 games for the team.
The New Yorker logged just 2 points and 1.2 boards per contest over that brief stretch.
We also lost Andy Philip on this day seven years earlier in 2007. Philip, a product of Illinois who had established himself as a star well before he joined the Celtics after being claimed off waivers near the end of his career in 1956.
It worked out well for all involved, with the Granite City native winning a title with Boston in 1957.
He recorded 3.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game over two seasons with the Celtics before retiring — rest in peace.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
