On this day in 1988, Boston Celtics head coach and former player K.C. Jones resigned as coach unexpectedly on completion of the 1987-88 NBA season.
Jones, an eight-time NBA champion with the team as a point guard, would win two more rings as head coach (one in 1984, the other in 1986), and would be designated coach of the NBA All-Star game for Boston four times between 1984 and 1987.
The USF product coached the Celtics for five seasons beginning in 1983-84, and amassed a 308-102 regular season record and a 65-37 playoff record, good for .751 and .637 winning percentages, respectively.
Jones would linger with the organization a bit longer with Boston’s front office for the 1988-89 season before leaving to join the Seattle Supersonics as an assistant coach and consultant.
It was the same date as the elevation of assistant coach Jimmy Rodgers to head coach after Jones’ departure.Rodgers had joined the organization along with then-head coach Bill Fitch, remaining with Jones after Fitch’s departure.
Rodgers would have a mostly unremarkable tenure as head coach in terms of successes with the team in decline and Larry Bird in particular missing all but a handful of games in Rodgers’ first season.
After falling in the 1990 Eastern Conference Playoffs first round to the New York Knicks in five games, Rodgers’ tenure as head coach with the team came to an end. He would record a 94-70 regular season record and a 2-6 playoff record for a .573 and .250 respective winning percentage.
In 1981, the Boston Celtics erased a double-digit lead of the Philadelphia 76ers to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Larry Bird would lead Boston with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and as many steals, forward Cedric Maxwell added 19 points and 6 boards, and Robert Parish 16 points, 8 rebounds and three blocks.
The Celtics would go on to win their 14th title over the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals four games to two.
It is the date of the 1967 NBA Draft, in which Boston took two players of note. The first is shooting guard Rick Weitzman, taken with the 110th overall pick out of Northeastern, Weitzman would play one season for the Celtics, winning a championship at the end of the 1967-68 season.
Over 25 games with the team, the former Husky logged 1.3 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game with the team.
Boston also selected point guard Mal Graham out of NYU with the 11th overall pick.
The White Plains native would win two championships with the Celtics, averaging 4.7 points, 1.7 boards and 1.1 assists per game over those two seasons.
It is the anniversary of two playoff victories since the season of Boston’s last championship season in 2007-08 as well. The first was a 104-86 blowout of the Cleveland Cavaliers to even the series 1-1 that would spoil LeBron James’ MVP award presentation before the game.
Despite James leading all scorers with 24 points and 7 rebounds, the Cavs fell to the Celtics with Ray Allen putting up 22 points and 7 rebounds, and point guard Rajon Rondo 13 points and an absurd 19 assists.
It is also the date of Boston taking a 2-0 series lead over Philadelphia as the Celtics defeated the 76ers 108-103 behind 21 points from then-rookie forward Jayson Tatum.
Point guard Terry Rozier 20 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds and Marcus Smart added 19 points and 5 rebounds as the team came back from 22 down for the victory.
