On this day in Boston Celtics history, All-Star small forward Jayson Tatum was signed to the team for a rookie scale, four-year, $30,073,320 contract in 2017. Tatum was drafted by the Celtics with the third overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft.
That pick was acquired by President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge by trading back from the first overall pick of the draft with the Philadelphia 76ers in one of the better trades of his career at the helm of the team he won two titles with as a player. A product of the Duke Blue Devils, Tatum has since played four full seasons with Boston.
Thus far, among many other honors, he has already won the first-ever awarded Larry Bird NBC Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player trophy, four elections to an All-Star game, and earned All-NBA honors three times, including All-NBA in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Boston also signed Croatian center Ante Zizic to a three-year, $5,879,760 contract. Zizic was drafted with the 23rd overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, but would not play with the parent club, instead of spending his time with the (then) Maine Red Claws (now, Celtics), the team’s G League developmental affiliate.
He would be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers with Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, and draft considerations as part of the deal that brought Kyrie Irving to the Celtics in 2017.
On this date, the Boston Celtics selected Bulbs Ehlers from Purdue with the third pick in the 1947 BAA draft. But even more interestingly, the Providence Steam Rollers selected Walt Dropo (Red Sox) from UConn with the fourth pick. pic.twitter.com/vQNIIrlbWf
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) July 1, 2020
It is also the date of the 1947 Basketball Association of America (BAA) draft, the very first draft in the history of what would soon become the NBA. It was held in Detroit, Michigan, and saw Boston take four players of note.
The first was Edwin “Bulbs” Ehlers, a 6-foot-3 forward and guard out of Purdue with the third overall pick who played two seasons for the Celtics, averaging 8.1 points and 1.8 assists per game (rebounds were not yet recorded).
Gene Stump is likely the oldest living former #NBA player. He played 3 seasons in the NBA for the #Celtics, #LakeShow, and Waterloo Hawks.
He was born in 1923 and is 96 years old. He may also be the last living member of the BAA before the merger pic.twitter.com/EPmy3wNrUB
— NBA Hoops Online (@NBABoards) May 27, 2020
Boston also drafted 6-foot-2 guard and forward Gene Stump out of DePaul with the 23rd overall pick.
Stump would play two seasons with the Celtics, averaging 6.3 points per game before he had his contract sold to the then-Minneapolis Lakers in 1949.
Boston also drafted forward and center Jack Hewson with the 50th pick of the draft out of Temple.
The New Jersey native played 24 games for the Celtics in which he recorded 2.7 points per game.
Happy birthday in heaven to Boston Celtics legend, Johnny Ezersky. pic.twitter.com/geYxLZloLs
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) March 21, 2023
Finally, the Celtics also took Johnny Ezersky out of Rhode Island but cut him before he made the team.
Ezersky would go on to play for the (defunct) Providence Steamrollers and the (also defunct) Baltimore Bullets before being claimed on waivers by — of all teams — the Celtics.
The New Yorker would play 34 games over two seasons with Boston, averaging 6.7 points and 1.4 assists per game, retiring from the league afterward.
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