On this day in Boston Celtics history, point guard David Wesley was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1970. An alumnus of Baylor University, the Texan guard found himself passed over in the 1992 NBA draft due to concerns about his height at 6-foot-1 and ability to transition from the 1 to the 2 at the NBA level.
After a stint with the Wichita Falls Texans in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA — that era’s equivalent of the NBA G League), he would sign with the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets before joining the Celtics the next season as a free agent.
Wesley’s scoring doubled or nearly so each of his first three seasons in the NBA, going from 3.1 to 7.4 to 12.3 points per game.
Happy birthday David Wesley! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/jHOEyLiRCs
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) November 14, 2020
He would reach a career-high of 16.8 points per game in his final season as a Celtic in 1996-97, having played a total of three seasons with Boston.
He averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game with the franchise, signing with the Charlotte Hornets in the summer of 1997.
It was also on this date that Celtics legend Tom “Satch” Sanders was fired and replaced by player-coach Dave Cowens in 1978.
Sanders had a rare losing record as a coach at 23-39 over two seasons starting back in January of 1978, thus the move to Cowens.
His former teammate did not fare considerably better in his sole season in the job, going 27-41 while also playing for the team.
Finally, another Celtics legend would play his first minutes for the team — Jo Jo White — on this date in 1969.
The Hall of Fame guard played 17 minutes in a 109 – 108 loss to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards), putting up 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists for a very solid debut.
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