Today in Boston Celtics history, Jim Barnes left us at age 61 in 2002. Barnes, a native of Tuckerman, Arkansas, played his NCAA ball at Texas-El Paso and was picked up as the top overall pick of the 1964 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. “Bad News” Barnes (as he was sometimes called for a nickname) played with that ball club, the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards), Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls before having his contract sold by the Bulls to the Celtics in 1968.
Unknown date; Los Angeles, CA, USA: FILE PHOTO; Los Angeles Lakers center Wilt Chamberlain (13) is defended by Boston Celtics center Jim Barnes (28) at The Forum. Mandatory Credit: Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports
Hampered by injury at this point in his career, Hampton still helped the Celtics in the regular season on their way to a title in 1969, backing up Bill Russell in his two seasons with the team.
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Barnes averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a Celtic.
Birthdays
It is also the birthday of former Celtic point guard Kenny Rollins, born this day in 1923 in Charleston, Missouri. An alum of the University of Kentucky, Rollins was drafted by the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons in the 1948 Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league of the NBA) draft, but never suited up for that team.
Instead, he played for the (now defunct) Chicago Stags for two seasons and another with the Louisville (Kentucky) Alumnites of the National Professional Basketball League (another predecessor league to the NBA) between 1948 and 1951.
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Rollins took a season off from playing before joining Boston in 1952, where he averaged 2.3 points, a rebound and 1.1 assists per game.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics history: Jim Barnes passes; Kenny Rollins born