On this day: M.L. Carr signs; Fox, Boykoff, Eliason born; 1st Disney bubble scrimmage
On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward M.L. Carr joined the Celtics for the second time as a free agent in 1979. The first time Carr signed with Boston was in 1974, and he did not make the team, instead choosing to go overseas to play in Israel. When that stint ended, he would link up with the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) Spirit of St. Louis franchise.
After the ABA merged with the NBA and the Spirit of St. Louis did not make the cut, Carr would join the Detroit Pistons under Dick Vitale, and then the Celtics afterward.
“The whole country is looking for answers to the energy crisis; we found ours,” said Boston head coach Bill Fitch at the time (via the Washington Post’s Ron Rosen).
“This is a Carr that is energy efficient and gets plenty of miles to the gallon.”
Carr would play six seasons with the Celtics, averaging 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game with the Celtics, and would later coach and be the general manager of the team as well.
It is also the birthday of former Celtic forward Rick Fox.
Born in Toronto, Canada in 1969, Fox played his college ball with North Carolina and would be drafted by Boston 24th overall in the 1991 NBA draft.
He would play six seasons in the league before being released by the then-team president and head coach Rick Pitino in 1997 to make way for Pitino’s vision of the team, a move in retrospect not held as one of the Celtics’ best moments.
Fox put up 10.7 points, 3.9 boards, and 2.8 assists per contest while with Boston.
Harry Boykoff (1950-51): Boykoff played 32 games for the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/TpNk3vYjAt
— Celticsupercollector (@CeltiCollector) March 14, 2022
Fox shares that birthday with former Celtic center Harry Boykoff, who played 32 games with Boston in the 1950-51 season.
Boykoff logged 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game in that short stretch.
My father, Don Eliason, played on the '42 team. He also played a year for the Celtics and two years in the NFL.
— Firesign Theater (@EliasonRich) April 4, 2019
And as far as short stretches go, ex-Boston forward Don Eliason played just one game with the team in the Celtics’ inaugural season of 1946-47, in which he registered 1 field goal attempt (it missed) and a personal foul.
As brief a tenure as it was, it put Eliason in a very small club of players who have played in the NBA or its predecessor leagues — at this time it was still the Basketball Association of America (BAA) — and NFL both.
Providence College product Kevin Stacom left the team for the Indiana Pacers in free agency on this date in 1978.
The Celtics would get a draft pick out of the exit they would later use to select Wayne Kreklow, their second-round pick of the 1974 draft deciding to decamp to Indianapolis bound to different free agency rules than exist today that required teams to compensate the club they signed a player from.
Stacom would later return for one more season in Boston and averaged 5.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and as many assists in his time as a Celtic.
Happy birthday in heaven Sonny Hertzberg! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/W98IgO9a39
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) July 29, 2020
Today is also the day we lost guard Sonny Hertzberg in 2005.
The City College of New York standout played the last two seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics between 1949 and 1951, spanning the years the Basketball Association (BAA) became the NBA of today.
He logged 10 points, 4 boards, and 3.3 assists per game while with Boston — rest in peace.
We also lost Celtics owner Richard Schmertz on this date in 1975.
Schmertz, who also owned part of the Portland Trail Blazers and Hartford Whalers of NHL fame (now, the Carolina Hurricanes), had bought the team in 1972 from Irv Levin and Harold Lipton to become principal owner, only to see the team return to Levin and Lipton after successful litigation two years later.
Schmertz would suffer a stroke on this date the following year, passing the same day — rest in peace.
Finally, it was also on this date that the Celtics played their first scrimmage of the Disney bubble restart, which they dropped 98-84 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first game of any kind since the start of the pandemic.
Defense seemed a particular challenge for the second unit as OKC would build as much as a 16-point lead late, and the Thunder would come away with a win as a result.
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