On this day in Boston Celtics history, shooting guard Bill Sharman was dealt to the Celtics in 1951 from the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons, who in turn had picked up Sharman early in the year in a dispersal draft from the now-defunct Washington Capitals.
Sharman, a native of Abilene, Texas, had played his college ball with the University of Southern California before being drafted by the Capitals in 1950 with the 17th overall pick of that year’s draft. Sharman would go on to play ten seasons for Boston, winning four championships and being elected to eight All-Star games (winning All-Star MVP in 1955) and seven All-NBA teams over that stretch.
He would retire as a player in 1961 to go into coaching and would become the first person in North American sports history to win titles as a player, coach, and executive.
It was on this day that the 1952 NBA draft was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the Celtics taking forward Gene Conley with the 90th overall pick out of Washington State (there were many more rounds to the draft in that era).
Conley would play four seasons with Boston in two stints, the middle being broken up with five seasons playing for the Milwaukee Braves baseball team, with whom he won an MLB national championship in 1957.
He would win three NBA championships with the Celtics in the second stint, between 1959 and 1961.
Speaking of Conley, on this day, the 1961 NBA Expansion draft was held to populate the roster of the newly-created Chicago Packers.
They took the place of the defunct Chicago Stags, and would eventually become the Washington Wizards after several moves and rebrandings.
Conley was selected from Boston’s roster as an unprotected player but never played for the Packers, instead electing to play baseball for the Boston Red Sox.
It also happens to be the birthday of Celtics short-timer Moritz Wagner, born this day in 1997 in Berlin, Germany.
An alum of Michigan, Wagner was picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA draft and played for that club and the Washington Wizards before he was dealt to Boston in a three-team deal in 2021 that sent Daniel Theis and Javonte Green to the Chicago Bulls.
He would be waived that April but averaged 1.2 points and 2.1 rebounds while with the Celtics.
Happy birthday to 88 year old former Celtic, Dwight Red Morrison! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/476x19krVf
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) April 26, 2020
Wagner shares that birthday with Dwight “Red” Morrison, who was born in 1932 in Fresno, California on this date. An Idaho product who was picked up by Boston with the 14th overall pick of the 1954 NBA draft.
Morrison played 142 games over two seasons with the Celtics before retiring to go into construction (yes, really!). He logged 3.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and an assist per game while with the team.
Happy birthday in heaven Al Lucas. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/Djfe7J8VnY
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) July 4, 2021
This is also the date that Boston wing Al Lucas left us in 1995.
Lucas played his college ball at Fordham and spent his first four seasons as a pro playing for the (defunct) Sheboygan basketball club of the National Basketball League (NBL — a predecessor league of the NBA) before joining Boston for just 2 games in 1948.
He recorded a point and an assist per game over that stretch — rest in peace.
The Celtics won their seventh title on this date with a 105-99 win over the (then) San Francisco (now, Golden State) Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Boston winning the series 4-1.
Big games from Bill Russell (14 points, 26 boards, 6 assists), Tommy Heinsohn (19 rebounds, 8 rebounds) Sam Jones (18 points, 5 assists), and Frank Ramsay secured the win despite Warriors legend Wilt Chamberlain putting up 30 points and 27 boards.
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