Today in Celtics history: Bird's #33 retired, Loscutoff, Green born
Bird, who played all 13 seasons of his pro career with the Boston Celtics, is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players to play the game. A three time NBA champion and MVP who made the All-Star team a mind-boggling 12 of those 13 seasons, Larry Legend is perhaps the most iconic of all of Boston's retired players - no small feat among the likes of Russell, Cousy, Havlicek, and many, many more.
Today is also the birthday of a pair of former Celts, Oriene Green and Jim Loscutoff.
Loscutoff, who would have been 87 today had he not passed in 2015, was drafted by Boston third in the 1955 NBA Draft, and would go on to win seven championships (1957, 1959-64) with the club. Known for his elite defense, Loscutoff is the only player in Celtics history (and possibly NBA history) to have had his name - rather than jersey number - retired, so that future Celts could wear his number - perhaps an interesting solution to a problem increasingly faced by storied franchises like the Celts.
Green's time in Boston was much less impactful and brief, though still a Celt he was. He hailed from Gainesville, Florida and stayed home to attend Florida for his college ball before being selected by the Celtics with the 53rd pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, and spent an uneventful season (apart from being arrested for driving his SUV 90 mph in suburban Boston) backing up Delonte West. Green was waived in the offseason, and his been something of a journeyman since, recently popping up in the news after, well...read more on that here.
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Photo via Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE Getty
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