On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Kevin Douglas Gamble was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1965. A product of the University of Iowa, Gamble was drafted 63rd overall (there were many more rounds to the draft in that era) in the 1987 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
He would play for that team briefly before spending time playing for teams in the Continental Basketball Association (an analog to today’s G League), the Philippine Basketball Association, and the World Basketball League. In December of 1988, Gamble got picked up by the Celtics to help cover for an injured Larry Bird and managed to parlay the opportunity into increasingly important roles, eventually becoming a starter by the 1990-91 season.
He would play for Boston for a total of six seasons, averaging 11.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game while with the team.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic center Steve Hamer, born this day in 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee. Hamer played his college ball at the University of Tennessee and was drafted by Boston 38th overall in the 1996 NBA draft.
The Tennessean played 35 games for the Celtics that season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Forward Gene Stump was also born today, in 1923 in Chicago, Illinois.
A product of DePaul, Stump was selected by the Celtics in their very first draft during their second season of existence, when they were still in the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era.
The Chicagoan played 99 games for Boston over two seasons, recording 6.3 points per game (many common counting statistics were not yet recorded).
On this date in 1947, Boston guard Saul Mariaschin made his debut for the team in an 85-74 road loss to the (now defunct) Baltimore Bullets.
It was a modest debut for the Harvard alum, scoring just 2 points, both of them off of free throws.
The road loss was also the date of the debut of Celtics wing Edwin “Bulbs” S. Ehlers.
The Illinois native had a better inaugural contest, scoring 9 points, all but 2 of them at the charity stripe.
(AP Photo)
Finally, it is the date that Terry Duerod passed away in 2020.
After being selected out of Detroit Mercy by the local team — the Pistons — with the 48th pick of the 1979 NBA draft, the Michigan native would play for that team and the Dallas Mavericks before signing with the Celtics in 1980.
He’d play 53 games over two seasons for Boston, averaging 2.8 points per game with the team before being waived in 1982.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire
