Today in Boston Celtics history, Brad Stevens was born in Zionsville, Indiana, in 1976. He played his college basketball at DePauw University, where he earned a degree in economics and received Academic All-America honors three times, along with All-Conference team selections. After college, Stevens worked as a pharmacy representative before transitioning to coaching as a volunteer assistant with Butler University's men's basketball program. He became a full-time assistant coach the following season and was promoted to head coach of the Bulldogs in 2007.
Stevens quickly garnered national attention for the work he was doing at Butler, breaking the NCAA record for wins by a coach in their first three seasons while making the NCAA title game two
seasons running in 2010 and 2011. That got the Celtics' attention, who hired him away in 2013, where he took his team to the cusp of the NBA Finals three out of four seasons before hitting some turbulence generated by the exit of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency and the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of the 2020-21 NBA season, Stevens made the leap from head coach to team president shaking up the roster almost from the moment he got the job. He continues to hold that position up to the present.
Transactions
It is also the date of the trade that made current Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks a Celtic in a strictly technical sense and reunited former Kentucky forward Walter McCarty with head coach and then-team president Rick Pitino. In 1997 on this date, Boston dealt forward Chris Mills and draft assets for Brooks (a guard) and forwards Dontae’ Jones, Walter McCarty, and John Thomas.
You'll note we said Brooks was a Celtic in a technical sense, and that is because the future NBA coach never actually suited up for Boston. He was waived five days later and moved on to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his last stop in the league as a player.
Historic milestones
Today is the day that the Celtics celebrated their 18th title with their ring ceremony, which saw the team raise another banner to the roof of TD Garden.
It is also the date of Celtics icon Sam Jones, who played his first game for Boston in a 115-90 blowout of the (then) St. Louis Hawks (now, Atlanta) in 1957. The iconic Celtics guard had a very modest debut, grabbing just 1 rebound in 3 minutes of play.
Boston legend Tom "Satch" Sanders made his debut exactly three years later in 1960 in a 118-116 win over the Detroit Pistons. The NYU alum also had a conservative inaugural performance, pulling down 4 boards.
It was on this day that Robert Williams III debuted for the Celtics as well, in a 93-90 loss to the Orlando Magic in 2018. The Louisiana native played just over 3 minutes of game time, registering no counting stats of note for what was not an especially representative game compared to his later career.
Carlos Clark was cut on this day in 1985 after playing in 93 games over two seasons for the Celtics, drafted by Boston out of Ole Miss in 1982. The Tennessee native logged 2.4 points per game with the team, his sole stop in the NBA.
Gone too soon
It is also the date that former Boston guard Dick Murphy passed away in 1973. The New York native played 7 games for the Celtics in their first season of existence in 1946-47. An alumnus of Manhattan College, Murphy recorded 0.3 points and 0.4 assists per game over that stretch.
Finally, it is the day Ed Mikan left us in 1999. The DePaul alum was born in Joliet, Indiana in 1925, brother of Los Angeles Lakers icon George Mikan. Drafted by the (defunct) Chicago Stags in 1948, Mikan played for that team, the then-Rochester Royals (now, Sacramento Kings), the also-defunct Washington Capitols, the then-Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors, and also-defunct Indianapolis Olympians before joining Boston. Mikan played just 9 games for the Celtics, retiring at 28 after logging 2.3 points and 2.2 boards per game with the Celtics.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Today in Boston Celtics history: Stevens born; Brooks, McCarty trades; Timelord, Jones, Sanders debut; Murphy passes
