Today in Celtics history: McCarty to Suns, Johnson, Fenley born
McCarty, who is now an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, only played 28 games with Phoenix, and one more season in the league with the Los Angeles Clippers after playing the previous eight in Beantown, and his rookie year with the New York Knicks. The trade was a forgettable one, resulting in a second-round pick being sent from the Suns, but Walter was and remains an important part of Celtics history, if never a star. For more on McCarty's time in Boston, click here.
Annual reminder that Jimmy Butler was picked 3 picks after the Celtics selected JaJuan Johnson.— CelticsLife.com (@CelticsLife) December 10, 2015
It also happens to be the birthday of JaJuan Johnson, former Celtics big man and one of the more commonly cited smirches on Danny Ainge's drafting record. Johnson, a consensus First-Team All-American at Purdue, never panned out in the NBA, drafted by the (then) New Jersey Nets 27th in the 2011 NBA draft and then traded to the Celtics along with a 2014 second-round pick for the rights to MarShon Brooks. His erratic effort and production doomed his career in Boston, where he averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 boards per game in his lone season with the club.
Today is also the 95th anniversary of the birth of Warren Fenley, one of the original members of the Celtics, playing only for their inaugural season, 1946-47. We know very little about him as a pro, aside that he averaged 2.6 points per game, played "forward", and shot .225 from the field for the Celts in the Basketball Association of America (one of the NBA's precursor leagues).
Warren Fenley played 33 games for the 1946-47 Celtics. Looks like sleeved jerseys were a thing back then too pic.twitter.com/VoFfUUFHwz— Danny Martinez (@DannyMartinez4) March 26, 2015
He attended Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, New York, Manhattan College, and would start a school and athletic program at Saint Rita Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn after his brief basketball career, where he would coach for five years (he also played three seasons for the New York/Brooklyn Gothams and one for the Paterson Crescents in the American Basketball League, another pre-NBA league). He was also a US Marine and a police officer later in life. If any of you all are aware of more information or photos, be sure to comment below
For more stories about Celtics history on Celticslife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.
Photo via the AP Photo/Elise Amendola
Data via basketball-reference.com
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn
