Today in Boston Celtics history: Pitino hired; DJ retired; 1965 NBA draft; 1968 expansion draft
Today in Boston Celtics history, Rick Pitino was appointed as the head coach and general manager of the storied ball club in 1997. Prior to this, he had served as a moderately successful head coach for the New York Knicks in the NBA from 1987 to 1989 and had most recently coached at the University of Kentucky in the NCAA ranks. His tenure with the Celtics went considerably worse, with the pressure to return to greatness after the longest losing streak in team history undoubtedly a factor in the several questionable 'win-now' decisions made by Pitino.
The New Yorker threw in the towel after four seasons with the franchise, amassing a 102-146 record in the regular season, good for a . 411 winning percentage. He never made the postseason in his role as team president and head coach.
Historic milestones It is also the date of Dennis Johnson's last game with the Celtics, in 1990. The game was against the Knicks, a Game 5 loss in the East Finals that had Boston finishing with a 121-114 loss. Johnson scored 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists in the final game of his career, as the Californian retired after the loss.
The Pepperdine alum played the last seven seasons of his career with the Celtics, averaging 12. 6 points, 3. 2 boards, and 6.
4 assists with the team. Birthdays Today is former Boston shooting guard Oliver Lafayette's birthday, who had the briefest of Celtics tenures. He appeared in exactly one game after signing a rest-of-season contract with the team in April 2010, scoring 7 points.