On this day: Ex-Celtics Sidney Wicks, J.R. Bremer and Jim Ard born; Bob Doll signs
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston power forward Sidney Wicks was born in 1949 in Los Angeles, California (though there are other records that indicate he was born in Contra Costa County, California instead). A product of the University of California Los Angeles, Wicks was instrumental in their winning three consecutive championships while he was with the team.
The California native would be selected second overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1971 NBA draft and played a total of five seasons for the Trail Blazers before they dealt his rights to the Celtics in 1976.
Wicks would play three seasons with Boston, averaging 14.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic guard J.R. Bremer, born this day in 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio. A St. Bonaventure Bonny in college, Bremer signed with the Celtics after going undrafted in the 2002 NBA draft.
Bremer would make the All-Rookie Second Team before he was dealt with Bruno Šundov and draft assets for Jumaine Jones in 2003.
Bremer played 64 games for the Celtics in his sole season with the team, starting 41 of them.
He averaged 8.3 points, 2.3 boards, and 2.6 assists per game while in Boston.
It is also the birthday of former Boston forward Jim Ard, born today in 1948 in Seattle, Washington.
Ard would play his college ball at Cincinnati, drafted with the 6th overall pick of the 1970 NBA draft by his hometown Seattle Supersonics, but would play instead for the (then) New York (now, Brooklyn) Nets, at that time part of the American Basketball Association (ABA).
He would leave the ABA in 1974, first signing with the Philadelphia 76ers — who released him after a month — and then the Celtics, for whom he played for four seasons.
Ard would be instrumental in the team’s 1976 NBA Championship, icing free throws in the triple-overtime Game 5 classic. He logged 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds while with the team.
It is also the date that former Boston big man Bob Doll signed with the team in 1948, back in the team’s Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league that would become the NBA of today) days soon after the team’s founding in the 1946-47 season.
A Colorado product, Doll joined the BAA ranks with the (now defunct) St. Louis Bombers, where he played for two seasons before joining the Celtics. He averaged 7.3 points and 2.4 assists per game while with Boston for two more seasons — rebounds were not yet tabulated.
Finally, it is also the date of a 117-106 win over the Miami Heat in the 2020 Disney bubble playoffs held at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida due to the pandemic.
The win got the Celtics back in the series after falling behind 0-2 to the Heat in the East Finals, driven by 26 points from Jaylen Brown, 25 from Jayson Tatum, and 21 from Kemba Walker.
“There’s some great guys in that locker room,” Brown said after the game via the AP.
“A lot of emotion, a lot of passion, but we’re a family and we’re here for each other at the end of the day. We exemplified that when we came out together … we kept our will high and we persevered to win this game.”
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