Today in Celtics history: the Jordan Crawford trade & Milkman's Special

Today, February 23rd is the fourth anniversary of the deal which sent former Boston Celtics Jason Collins and Leandro Barbosa to the Washington Wizards.



The trade, which brought disgruntled shooting guard Jordan Crawford to the Celtics, came together almost at the last moment, coming just an hour shy of the league's 3pm deadline. Jordan, who envisioned a bigger role with the Wizards but found the front office holding a different point of view, managed to parlay that disaffection into what was, in retrospect, something of a steal of a trade.

Said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld, per the Washington Post's Michael Lee:

"Jordan did not fit into our current plans . . . or our future plans. At this time, we thought it was in the best interest of everyone if we make this trade. It will be a good situation for Jordan. He might get an opportunity to go to a better team and help them and it will allow us to continue on the path that we’re trying to build in the locker room, with work ethic and team play, where everybody is on the same page and wanting to play for the same reasons." 

Crawford would only play 66 games over two seasons before being traded to the Golden State Warriors, but Danny Ainge managed to convert his contract (along with MarShon Brooks) into a pair of picks, the 2019 Los Angeles Clippers first rounder, and last year's second rounder used to select Ben Bentil.


Today is also the 65th anniversary of Boston's participation in the so-called "Milkman's Special", so called because it was played at midnight (presumably because milkmen get up very, very early). No publicity stunt, but rather a creative solution to an accidental double-booking of the Boston Garden by the team's owner Walter A. Brown, who was also a big proponent of ice hockey (at one point he also owned the Bruins). Brown had scheduled an "Ice Capades" event the same evening, and pushed the start time back to accommodate both events. The Celts, led by Bob Cousy's 24 points, won the match against the Fort Wayne Pistons 88-67.


For more stories about Celtics history on Celticslife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.





Photo via Alchetron.com
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn


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