Sept. 17, 2026, 6:01 a.m. ET
Today in Boston Celtics history, Rasheed Wallace was born in 1974 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Boston big man played his college ball at the University of North Carolina, earning First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 1995. Later that year, the Washington Bullets, now known as the Wizards, selected him fourth overall in the NBA Draft.
Wallace played for that ball club, the Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, and Detroit Pistons (where he would win a title in 2004) before joining the Celtics in free agency in 2009. The UNC product would sign a three-year deal with Boston that summer. The big man had a tough season with the team in terms of production during the regular season, registering at or near-career lows in several counting stats. The Celtics would get to the NBA Finals with Wallace in 2010 but would fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
Wallace would temporarily retire (he would attempt a comeback in two seasons with the New York Knicks) at the end of the season, having averaged 9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and an assist per game while with the team.
It is also the birthday of Kermit Washington, born this day in 1951 in Washington, D.C. Washington played his college ball at American University and was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the fifth overall pick of the 1973 NBA Draft.
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He played for that club for five seasons before being dealt to the Celtics, for whom he played 32 games in the 1977-78 season before being traded to the San Diego Clippers. He averaged 11.8 points, 10.5 boards, 1.3 assists, and as many blocks per game as a Celtic.
Gone too soon
It is also the date of former Celtics point guard Maurice King’s passing in 2007.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1934, King would play collegiately for Kansas, from which he would be selected 48th overall by the Celtics in the 1957 NBA Draft (there were many more rounds in that era).