On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics shooting guard Conner Henry was born in Claremont, California in 1963. A 6-foot-7 product of the University of California Santa Barbara, Henry had been drafted 89th overall (there were more rounds to the draft than today in that era) by the Houston Rockets in the 1986 NBA draft.
That team would waive Henry by December of the same year. Picked up instead by an opportunistic Celtics franchise, he would then manage to turn a pair of 10-day contracts into a rest-of-season deal with Boston to close out the 1986-87 season.
He would play with the Celtics for a total of 46 games over two seasons, averaging 2.9 points, 0.8 boards, and as many assists per game while with the club.
Connor Henry. Boston Celtics. Champion. (Thanks @EddieBJJ) pic.twitter.com/83AWgDoh2C https://t.co/SGIm0mRNHN
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 16, 2021
Waived by the Celtics in November of 1987, Henry would have short stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings before moving on to a successful overseas and coaching career.
He is now the head coach of the Adelaide 36ers, an NBL franchise based in that same Australian city.
For Garnett, this bid is personal because of his stature within the franchise. Garnett wants to purchase the team and keep it in Minnesota, sources said. Glen Taylor told @JonKrawczynski that keeping the franchise in Minny is a requirement. https://t.co/zTPDteOPJy
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 21, 2020
It is also the date that news broke of former Celtics champion forward Kevin Garnett attempting to buy the team that drafted him out of high school in the 1995 NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in 2020.
Garnett’s bid would eventually fail with the team being sold to another group, KG’s past fraught relations with then-owner Glen Taylor perhaps being part of the reason the team did not end up going to the former Celtics’ camp.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ