Today in Boston Celtics history, Kenny Anderson, was born in Queens, New York, in 1970. Anderson emerged as a sought-after recruit during his high school years. He played his college basketball at Georgia Tech, where he earned consecutive All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors, along with several other accolades. He was taken with the second overall pick of the 1991 NBA Draft by the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, where he played five seasons before being dealt to the Charlotte Hornets in January 1996. He signed with the Portland Trail Blazers at the end of that season, and was later dealt to the Toronto Raptors in 1998.
Anderson finally found his way to Boston when the Raps dealt him to the Celtics five days later. He played five seasons
with Boston, becoming a fan favorite along with Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. Despite this, the Georgia Tech alum was traded yet again in 2002 to the Seattle SuperSonics.
He averaged 11.3 points, 3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game with the team.
Birthdays
It is also the birthday of Jerome Anderson (no relation), who came into this world on this date in 1953 in Mullens, West Virginia. A native of Mullens, West Virginia, Anderson was selected by Boston with the 53rd overall pick of the 1975 NBA Draft. He played two seasons with the Celtics, winning a title his sophomore and final season in the NBA in a reserve role, averaging 2.6 points per game in his career with Boston.
The Andersons share their birthday with Bill (also known as Henry) Walker, also born in West Virginia, in Huntington, this day in 1987. Walker played for Kansas State before being taken 47th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2008 NBA Draft, for whom he never played. His rights were sold to Boston that same night, and the Huntington native played 37 games over two seasons for the Celtics, averaging 2.6 points and 0.9 rebounds per game with the team.
It is also the birthday of Arnie Risen, born in Williamstown, Kentucky on this date in 1924. Risen played his final three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics and won a title with the team in 1957. He averaged 7.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game with Boston. The big man had spent his entire career with the Rochester Royals (now, Sacramento Kings), his rights dealt to Boston in 1955.
Gone too soon
Finally, it is also the date of the passing of Kenny Rollins, who left us on this day in 2012. Brother of fellow NBA guard Phil Rollins, Kenny played collegiately at Kentucky, where he won an NCAA title in 1948 after returning from a pause in his schooling to serve in the US Navy in the Second World War.
He also won Gold in the 1948 London Olympics for the US before trying his hand at the pro game with the (now defunct) Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) and Louisville Alumnites of the National Professional Basketball League (NPBL – a professional league that competed with the NBA).
Signing with the Celtics in 1952, Rollins played a total of 43 games for Boston in the 1952-53 season, recording 2.3 points and 1.1 assists per game while with the franchise, retiring from the sport at the end of the season.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Today in Boston Celtics history: Walker, Risen, Anderson born; Rollins passes
