On this day in Boston Celtics history, one of the greatest players to play the game retired: Celtics center legend Bill Russell decided to hang it up officially after 13 seasons with the team. Russell joined the team in 1956, drafted (along with college teammate K.C. Jones) out of the University of San Francisco.
He played for the team for 13 seasons, winning an NBA-record 11 titles over that stretch, including eight in a row in the 1960s. The Louisiana native racked up five Most Valuable Player awards, 12 All-Star games (and an All-Star game MVP), 11 All-NBA teams, and five All-Defensive teams among many other honors, retiring on this day in 1969.
Russell averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds (yes, really), and 4.3 assists per game over his career, all spent with the Celtics.
It is also the date of the 1993 NBA draft, held at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Boston took just one player of note, Iowa big man Acie Earl, with the 19th overall pick of the draft.
Earl played for the Celtics for two seasons, in which he averaged 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds over 104 games played for the franchise. He was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 NBA expansion draft to populate that team and the (then) Vancouver (now, Memphis) Grizzlies.
It was also former Celtics guard Orien Greene’s last day with the team; he was waived by Boston on this date in 2006.
Greene was drafted 53rd overall by the Celtics out of Louisiana-Lafayette and played for the team for one season, over which he logged 3.2 points, 1.8 boards, and 1.6 assists per game.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
