Today in Boston Celtics history, Larry Siegfried was signed by the Boston Celtics as a free agent. It is also the day he passed away in 2010 (rest in peace). Siegfried was born in Shelby, Ohio in 1939 and would play NCAA basketball at Ohio State with the Buckeyes, and was picked up by the (then) Cincinnati Royals (now, Sacramento Kings) with the third overall pick of the 1961 NBA Draft. Siegfried instead elected to play for the Pittsburgh Pipers of the American Basketball League (ABL — a competing league at that time) due to the sting of losing to the Cincinnati Bearcats while a Buckeye.
Quirky? Sure — but it worked out for the Celtics, with whom he would win five titles between 1963 and 1969. The Ohio State alum would leave the team at the end of the 1969-70 season when he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft held to populate that team after its creation.
Siegfried averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in his time with Boston.
Birthdays
Today is also the birthday of former Celtics point guard Ray Williams. Born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York, he played his NCAA ball with Minnesota and would be taken by the New York Knicks 10th overall in the 1977 NBA Draft. He played for that club, the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, and (then) Kansas City (now, Sacramento) Kings before joining Boston as a veteran free agent in 1985.
He appeared in 23 games for the Celtics before leaving the team for the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency the following season, having put up 6.4 points, 2.5 boards, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game with Boston.
Williams shares his birthday with ex-Celtic center Dwayne Schintzius, born in Brandon, Florida in 1968 on this date. A Florida alum, Schintzius was selected by the San Antonio Spurs 24th overall in the 1990 NBA draft and played stints for the Nets, Kings, Indiana Pacers, and Clippers after San Antonio before signing with Boston in 1999 as a free agent.
He played just 16 games for the team that season, scoring 1.2 rebounds a game on average. His stay in Boston was a short one, dealt with Popeye Jones and Ron Mercer to the Denver Nuggets for Danny Fortson, Eric Washington, Eric Williams, and draft assets in August 1999
It is also former Celtics forward PJ Brown’s birthday. Born this day in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan, Brown attended Louisiana Tech to play his NCAA basketball, going 29th overall to the Nets in the 1992 NBA Draft.
He played there and with the Miami Heat, the Charlotte/New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, and the Chicago Bulls before being coaxed out of retirement for a title run with Boston. He of course won that banner in 2008 with the Celtics and re-retired having averaged 2.2 points and 3.8 rebounds with the team.
Debuts
Finally, today was the date of Celtics shooting guard Rick Weitzman’s debut for the team, which came in a 105 – 90 win over the Chicago Bulls in 1967.
It was a modest debut that saw the Northeastern University product, with Weitzman scoring a single point on a free throw.
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