On this day: Boston guards Dee Brown, Jerry Sichting, Charles Smith born
On this day in Boston Celtics history, point and shooting guard DeCovan Kadell “Dee” Brown was born in Jacksonville, Florida back in 1968. Brown would play his college ball with the Jacksonville University Dolphins, from which he would be drafted by the Celtics with the 19th overall pick of the 1990 NBA draft.
In his first season with the team, the Floridian guard would earn First Team All-Rookie honors, and he would win the NBA Slam dunk Contest in his second season with his famous no-look dunk. The Jacksonville product played parts of eight seasons with Boston between 1990 and 1998.
He would average 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game over that stretch.
Allsport/Getty Images photo
It is also the birthday of former Celtic floor general Jerry Lee Sichting, born this day in 1956 in Martinsville, Indiana.
A product of the Purdue Boilermakers, Sichting led his college squad to an NIT title game, losing to in-state rival Indiana before being taken with the 82nd overall pick (there were many more rounds in that era) of the 1979 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.
AP Photo/Peter Southwick)
He would not suit up for that team though, instead spending his first two seasons out of college in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA — that era’s version of the G League) with the Maine Lumberjacks.
Sichting would land a deal with the Indiana Pacers, with whom he would play for five seasons before he would be dealt to the Celtics in 1985, with whom he would win a title the following summer.
He would play parts of three seasons with Boston before being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jim Paxson in 1988, averaging 5.9 points, 1.2 boards, and 2.4 assists per game.
Paxson, Parish, Charles Smith and McHale. From the looks of this pic, I bet the Celtics lost pic.twitter.com/OolOvVeE5n
— Frosty Bias (@frostybias) January 13, 2021
The pair share their birthday with yet another Celtic point guard, Charles Edward Smith IV.
Smith was born on this date in 1967 in Washington, District of Columbia, and spent his college years playing for the Georgetown Hoyas, from which he went unselected in the 1989 NBA draft.
Bob Strong/AFP
After, the former Hoya would go on to play a stint in the CBA with the Rapid City Thrillers before signing with the Celtics as a free agent later that year.
He would appear in 65 games across two seasons between 1989 and 1991, putting up 2.8 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
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