On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Celtics center Robert Parish scored the 22,000th point of his career in a game he played in 1994. An alum of Louisiana’s Centenary College, Parish was later drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall pick of the 1976 NBA draft and would come to the Celtics in a famously lopsided trade in 1980.
He would play for Boston for 14 seasons, winning three of his four NBA titles with the Celtics while also garnering 9 All-Star bids, 2 All-NBA team selections, and a host of other honors.
The game in which he hit the 22,000-point plateau was a 21-point performance in a 102 – 95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Parish becoming (at that time) only the twelfth person in league history to reach that mark.
No player from the Minneapolis Lakers won a title with the Celtics. It’s only been two players from the Minneapolis Lakers that have played for the Celtics, Mike Bloom & Gene Stump.
— 🐻+🍯=❤️ (@WinkWestwood) October 1, 2020
Today is also the birthday of Meyer “Mike” Bloom, born in 1915 in New York City, New York
Bloom played one season for the Celts in just their second season of 1947-48, back in their Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) days.
Happy birthday in heaven Mike Bloom. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/WyBeuANUQB
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 14, 2021
The Temple alumnus averaged 9.2 points and 14 assists per game for the team in the regular season, and 12 points and 2 assists per game in the playoffs.
The New Yorker would go on to play three more seasons in the Basketball Association of America — two for the Minneapolis Lakers (who would later move to Los Angeles), and one for the now-defunct Chicago Stags in the second-to-last season for the club.
JUMP SHOT, a documentary about Kenny Sailors (the developer of the modern day jump shot in basketball), is set for a special one night only theatrical event on April 2. The film, executive produced by Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media, will be released in 250+ theaters nationwide. pic.twitter.com/Gjxm5ipK1g
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 11, 2020
He shares his birthday with fellow Celtics alumnus Kenny Sailors, born this day in 1921 in Bushnell, Nebraska.
Sailors played for the Celtics in the penultimate stop of his brief but busy NBA career, the guard playing 10 games in the 1950-51 season in which he averaged 1.8 points per game with the team.
Finally, it was on this day in 1983 that the Cleveland Cavaliers dealt Scott Wedman to the Celtics for Darren Tillis and a first-round pick.
Wedman would play parts of 5 seasons with Boston, where he’d help the Celtics win titles in 1984 and 1986.
Over 271 games played with Boston, the Colorado product averaged 6.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and an assist per game.
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