The Boston Celtics have had players suiting up in a total of 68 different jersey numbers (and have three others not part of any numerical series) since their founding at the dawn of the Basketball Association of America (BAA — the league that would become today’s NBA), worn by well over 500 players in the course of Celtics history.
To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Celtics Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
With 25 of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Celtics to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.
And for today’s article, we will continue with the eighth of 13 people to wear the No. 45, Boston big man alum Raef LaFrentz. After ending his college career at Kansas, LaFrentz was picked up with the third overall selection of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets.
The Hampton, Iowa native played parts of the first four seasons of his pro career with Denver. He also played for the Dallas Mavericks before he was dealt to Boston in 2003. His stay with the team lasted until he was traded again, this time to the Portland Trail Blazers for the final two seasons of his NBA career in 2006.
During his time suiting up for the Celtics, LaFrentz wore only jersey No. 45 and put up 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
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