On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team would land All-Star forward Gordon Hayward in 2017 after the Indiana native penned a letter in The Player’s Tribune announcing his decision to leave the Utah Jazz to sign with the Celtics.
Earlier in the day, his agent had denied reports by ESPN NBA insider Chris Haynes that the unrestricted free agent would sign with Boston, but the Butler product would end up deciding on a largely ill-fated reunion with his college coach Brad Stevens, who had left the collegiate ranks to join the Celtics in the same role back in 2013.
“There were so many great things pulling me in that direction,” Hayward explained. “There was the winning culture of Boston, as a city — from the (Red) Sox to the (New England) Pats, to the (Boston) Bruins.
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
“There was the special history of the Celtics, as a franchise — from (Bill) Russell to (Larry) Bird, to (Paul) Pierce, and it goes on,” he added.
“And of course, there was Coach Stevens: Not just for the relationship that we’ve built off the court — but also for the one that we started building on the court, all of those years ago, in Indiana.”
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
It is also the birthday of former Celtic wing Adrian Griffin, born this day in 1974 in Wichita, Kansas.
Signed by Boston as a free agent in 1999 after going undrafted in the 1996 NBA draft after an NCAA career with Seton Hall. He would play two seasons with the Celtics, averaging 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists with the team.
Ex-Boston guard and forward Al Lucas was born today as well in 1922.
A product of Fordham, the 6-foot-3 wing played just 2 games for the Celtics in the 1948-49 season, putting up 1 point per game in his very short stint with the team.
Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Gene Conley on April 25, 1959. (AP Photo/SM)
Finally, it is also the day we lost forward Gene Conley in 2017. One of a handful of people to win a title in Major League Baseball as well as the NBA, Conley also played for the Boston Red Sox, Boston (then Milwaukee) Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies in MBL.
He also played for the New York Knicks and the Hartford Capitals of the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Washington Tapers of the American Basketball League as well as the Celtics.
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