On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard legend KC Jones was born in 1932 in Taylor, Texas. Jones played his college ball with fellow Celtics legend Bill Russell at the University of San Francisco and was taken in the same draft class as Russell by the Celtics with the 13th overall pick of the 1956 NBA draft.
The Texan guard would go on to win eight titles with Boston, the only club he played for over a nine-season career in the NBA. He would average 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game with the Celtics. He would also win two titles with the team as a head coach in the 1980s.
Jones would be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.
It is also the birthday of ex-Celtic shooting guard Bill Sharman, who played for the team between 1951 and 1961.
Sharman was born in 1926 in Abilene, Texas, and played in the NCAA ranks with the University of Southern California, and was selected by the Washington Capitals 17th overall in the 1950 NBA draft.
That franchise would fold after Sharman’s rookie season, with the (then) Fort Wayne (Indiana, now Detroit) Pistons drafting the former Trojan in the dispersal draft.
The Pistons would then trade Sharman to the Celtics in turn.
The Abilene native won four banners with the Celtics and was elected to eight All-Star games, seven All-NBA teams, and several other honors over his 10-season career with the team.
He averaged 18.1 points, 3.9 points, and 2.4 assists per game in Boston.
Today is also the date of a 94-90 comeback win against the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in Game 3 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals.
Paul Pierce outscored the Nets 19 points to 16 in the final frame to carry the Celtics, eliminating a 26-point lead, among the largest comebacks in playoff history.
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