Today in Boston Celtics history, Larry Siegfried signed with the Celtics in 1963. He passed away on the same day in 2010 – rest in peace. Siegfried was born in Shelby, Ohio, in 1939 and played college ball at Ohio State with the Buckeyes. He was taken by the then-Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) with the third pick of the 1961 NBA Draft. However, Siegfried chose to play for the Pittsburgh Pipers in the American Basketball League (ABL), a competing league at the time, following the disappointment of losing to the Cincinnati Bearcats during his tenure as a Buckeye.
Quirky? Sure – but it worked out for the Celtics, with whom he would win five titles between 1963 and 1969. The Ohio State alum would leave the team at the end of the 1969-70
season when he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft held to populate that team after its creation.
Siegfried averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in his time with Boston.
Birthdays
Today is the birthday of Ray Williams. Born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York, he played with Minnesota and was taken by the New York Knicks 10th in the 1977 NBA Draft. He played for that club, the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, and (then) Kansas City (now, Sacramento) Kings before joining Boston in 1985. He played 23 games for the Celtics before leaving for the Los Angeles Clippers next season, putting up 6.4 points, 2.5 boards, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Williams shares his birthday with Dwayne Schintzius, born in Brandon, Florida in 1968 on this date. A Florida alum, Schintzius was selected by the San Antonio Spurs 24th overall in the 1990 NBA Draft and played for the Nets, Kings, Indiana Pacers, and Clippers after San Antonio before signing with Boston in 1999. His stay in Boston was short, dealt to the Denver Nuggets in August 1999.
It is also PJ Brown's birthday. Born this day in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan, Brown attended Louisiana Tech, going 29th overall to the Nets in the 1992 NBA Draft. He played there and with the Miami Heat, the Charlotte/New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (they moved twice in his tenure), and the Chicago Bulls before being coaxed out of retirement with Boston. He won that banner in 2008 and re-retired averaging 2.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Historic milestones
Finally, today was the date of Rick Weitzman's debut, which came in a 105 - 90 win over the Chicago Bulls in 1967.
It was a modest debut that saw the Northeastern University alum, with Weitzman scoring a single point on a free throw.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Today in Boston Celtics history: Siegfried inked; Brown, Schintzius, Williams born
