On this day in Boston Celtics history, the 1998 NBA draft was held in General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and in it, the Celtics took only one player of note. The Celtics selected forward Paul Pierce out of Kansas with the 10th overall pick of the draft, a team the Californian was no fan of as a youth.
Even casual fans know the legacy of “the Truth” — as he was dubbed by future teammate Shaquille O’Neal in 2001 — has had on the franchise. An instrumental part of the 2008 title that brought Boston its league-record 17th championship, the Oakland native racked up a finals MVP for that series as well.
Over the course of his career with the Celtics, Pierce amassed 10 All-Star and four All-NBA elections, All-Rookie First Team, election to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and several other honors
He averaged 21.8 points, 6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game with Boston over 15 seasons.
It is also the date of the 1992 NBA draft — held in Portland, Oregon’s Memorial Coliseum — in which the Celtics took two players of note.
The first was shooting guard John Barry (son of Rick and brother of Scott, Brent, and Drew), taken with the 21st pick out of Georgia Tech.
Barry never played for Boston however, traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for big man Alaa Abdelnaby.
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The Celtics also drafted center Darren Morningstar out of Pitt with the 47th overall pick.
Like Barry, Morningstar never suited up for Boston, waived before he made the regular-season roster.
This is also the date of the 2004 NBA draft, held in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Celtics took four players of note, the first of which being forward Al Jefferson, taken 15th overall directly out of high school.
Jefferson made All-Rookie Second Team in his first season with Boston and would play for the team for three seasons.
Over that stretch, he averaged 10.3 points and 6.9 points per game, after which he was dealt with Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, and Sebastian Telfair for Kevin Garnett in 2007.
The Celtics also drafted point guard Delonte West with the 24th overall pick out of St. Joseph’s.
West played four seasons for the Celtics in two separate stints, and recorded a 9.8 point, 3-board, 3.7-assist career average with the team.
With the next pick of that draft, Boston selected shooting guard Tony Allen out of Oklahoma State University.
Allen won a championship with the Celtics and averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game before leaving the team for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2010.
The 2010 NBA draft (also held at Madison Square Garden in New York City) was also held on this date, in which Boston took two players of note.
The first was guard Avery Bradley, a 6-foot-3 prospect out of Texas selected with the 19th overall pick.
The Celtics also took big man Luke Harangody with the 52nd pick of the draft out of Notre Dame.
He averaged 2.3 points and 2 rebounds per game in one season with Boston, dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It is also the date of the 1995 NBA expansion draft, held to populate the two new Canadian teams, the Toronto Raptors, and Vancouver Grizzlies.
The Celtics lost center Acie Earl to the Raptors, who had been drafted 19th overall in the 1993 NBA draft and averaged 4.6 points and 2.8 points per game with the team.
It is also the birthday of former Celtics Sam Jones and Alaa Abdelnaby. Abdelnaby was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1968, and was traded to Boston in the deal noted above.
He played two seasons with the Celtics, averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 boards per game.
Finally, Hall of Fame Boston forward Sam Jones was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1933, and became a true Celtics legend after being drafted by the team out of North Carolina Central in 1957.
The Carolina native would go on to win 10 banners with Boston and be elected to five All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams over the course of his career, all spent with the Celtics.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire
