On this day in 1979, former Boston Celtics small forward M.L. Carr joined the Celtics for the second time as a free agent.
The first time Carr signed with Boston was in 1974, and he did not make the team, instead going overseas to play in Israel, and then the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) Spirit of St. Louis.
After the ABA merged with the NBA and the Spirit of St. Louis did not, Carr joined the Detroit Pistons under Dick Vitale, and then the Celtics afterwards.
“The whole country is looking for answers to the energy crisis; we found ours,” said Boston head coach Bill Fitch at the time (via the Washington Post’s Ron Rosen).
“This is a Carr that is energy efficient and gets plenty of miles to the gallon.”
Carr would play six seasons with the Celtics, averaging 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game with the Celtics, and would later coach and be the general manager of the team as well.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic forward Rick Fox. Born in Toronto, Canada in 1969, Fox played his college ball with North Carolina, and would be drafted by Boston 24th overall in the 1991 NBA Draft.
He would play six seasons in the league before being released by then-team president and head coach Rick Pitino in 1997 to make way for Pitino’s vision of the team, a move in retrospect not held as one of the Celtics’ best moments.
Fox put up 10.7 points, 3.9 boards and 2.8 assists per contest while with Boston.
Fox shares that birthday with former Celtic center Harry Boykoff, who played 32 games with Boston in the 1950-51 season.
Boykoff logged 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in that short stretch.
And as far as short stretches go, ex-Boston forward Don Eliason played just one game with the team in the Celtics’ inaugural season of 1946-47, in which he registered 1 field goal attempt (it missed) and a personal foul.
As brief a tenure as it was, it put Eliason in a very small club of players who have played in the NBA or its predecessor leagues — at this time it was still the Basketball Association of America (BAA) — and NFL both.
