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 first of 14 people to wear the No. 43, Boston guard alum Earl Tatum. After ending his college career at Marquette, Tatum was picked up with the 21st overall selection of the 1976 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mount Vernon, New York native would play parts of the first two seasons of his pro career with the Lakers. He also played for the Indiana Pacers before he was dealt to Boston in 1978. His stay with the team would span just three games before he was dealt again, this time to the Detroit Pistons.
During his time suiting up for the Celtics, Tatum wore only jersey No. 43 and put up 6.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
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