Today in Celtics history: Tony Delk born

Today, January 28th is the 43 anniversary of the birth of former Boston Celtics guard Tony Delk.

Delk played his collegiate ball at the University of Kentucky from 1992 to 1996, where he won SEC Player of the Year, Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and won an NCAA national championship his final season with the team. His pro career began after being taken 16th in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He was then traded by the Hornets along with Muggsy Bogues to the Golden State Warriors for B. J. Armstrong in November, 1997, where he played for two years before signing with the Sacramento Kings as a free agent in the summer of 1999.

The following season, he joined the Phoenix Suns as a free agent, and would be traded by the Suns with Rodney Rogers to the  Celts for Randy Brown, Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio and a 2002 first. Tony's time with the Celtics spanned two seasons, playing in 89 total games of which 55 were starts, and averaging 9.2 points. 2.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in his time in green. Delk would eventually be traded with Antoine Walker to the Dallas Mavericks for Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and a 2004 1st round draft pick that would be used to select Delonte West, where he'd play for the 2003-04 season.

He'd have stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons before leaving the league to play overseas, winning a Euroleague Championship with Panathinaikos of Athens, Greece. He played his final season as a pro player with the Carolina Giants - (perhaps confusingly) based in Puerto Rico - before retiring as a player and joining John Calipari's staff as an assistant coach for Kentucky. At present, he is an assistant coach with the University of New Mexico. Happy Birthday, Tony!



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