Today in Boston Celtics history, Tom Boswell was born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1953. He attended both South Carolina State and the University of South Carolina, transferring from the former to the latter midway through his collegiate career. In 1975, the Celtics picked him up from the Bulldogs with the 17th overall pick of the NBA Draft.
He played for the Celtics for a total of three seasons and won a title with the team in a reserve role in his rookie season of 1975-76. The Montgomery native then left the team for the Denver Nuggets in 1978 as an unrestricted free agent.
Boswell went on to play stints with that club and the Utah Jazz, as well as overseas after leaving Boston. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and an assist per game with the Celtics.
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It was also on this date that former No.1 overall pick Jim "Bad News" Barnes had his contract sold to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards. Barnes, who'd played with the Bullets previously as well as the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, came to the team in 1968 when the Bulls sold his rights. The Texas-El Paso alum played two seasons with the team between 1968 and 1970. He averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game with the team.
Finally, it is also the date that the Celtics signed former center Stojko Vranković to a contract in 1990. A Croatian national who went undrafted in the 1986 NBA Draft, the Drniš native would play overseas before signing with Boston. He never really caught on in the NBA, nor with the Celtics, averaging just 1.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game with Boston.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Today in Boston Celtics history: Vrankovic signed; Boswell born; Barnes traded for
