On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team would flop in that year’s draft lottery, ending up losing the top overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs despite having the highest odds — 36.3% — of landing the first overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft.
The whiff was one of the more impactful bits of bad draft luck experienced by the team in its worst era in terms of success in club history. The unlucky turn would end up sending generational big man talent Tim Duncan to the Spurs, with Boston drafting Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer with the third and sixth picks of that draft, respectively.
“I can tell you this,” said then-general manager M.L. Carr via the Boston Globe’s Michael Holley. “Coach (Rick) Pitino will do the right thing with the picks. He knows what he’s doing, he knows college basketball.”
The problem was that the Celtics played in the NBA.
Boston Celtics’ first-round draft picks Ron Mercer, left, and Chauncey Billups pose with their new jerseys during a news conference at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. Thursday, June 26, 1997. Billups was the third overall pick and Mercer was the sixth. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
On the same day in 1976, former Celtics small forward Ron Mercer was born in Nashville, Tennessee in an interesting coincidence.
He would play for the Celtics after being picked up by them out of the University of Kentucky with the sixth overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft.
It was there he played under Pitino, now his head coach for Boston after having left Kentucky that same summer to join the team as head coach and president of basketball operations.
21 Nov 1997: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics (left) talks to his guard Ron Mercer during a game against the New Jersey Nets at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics won the game 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Alls
Mercer played two seasons for the Celtics before being traded with Popeye Jones and Dwayne Schintzius to the Denver Nuggets for Danny Fortson, Eric Williams, Eric Washington, and draft assets.
He averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game over his two seasons with Boston.
Nobody:
Me: The Celtics draft pick I always hated the most was Michael Smith. pic.twitter.com/Y5aP8K9zUT
— HonestLarry (@HonestLarry1) March 14, 2020
It is also the birthday of former Celtic small forward Michael Smith, born today in 1965 in Rochester, New York.
He would be selected by Boston out of Brigham Young University with the 13th overall pick of the 1989 NBA draft, and play two seasons with the Celtics before being waived in 1991.
He averaged 4.9 points, 1.4 boards, and 1.1 assists per game over that stretch.
LOS ANGELES – 1987: Sam Vincent #11 of the Boston Celtics dribbles upcourt against the Los Angeles Clippers during a game played in 1987 at the LA Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Former Boston floor general Sam Vincent was also born on this day, in 1963 in Lansing, Michigan.
He played his NCAA ball with Michigan State and was selected by the Celtics 20th overall in the 1985 NBA draft.
Boston Celtics Dennis Johnson, left, and Bill Walton, center, hug as Sam Vincent (11) and Kevin McHale jubilate in the fourth period as they headed to a 114-97 win and the NBA Championship against the Houston Rockets at Boston Garden, Sunday, June 8, 1986, Boston, Mass. (AP Photo/Paul Benoit)
Vincent would play two seasons with Boston as a reserve guard, winning a championship in that role in 1986.
He would be dealt to the Seattle Supersonics along with Scott Wedman for draft considerations and logged 3.4 points, 0.7 boards, and 1.2 assists per game in his time with the Celtics.
Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce (34) is congratulated by teammates Kevin Garnett (5) and James Posey during the fourth quarter of their 97-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of an Nba Eastern Conference semifinal basketball series in Boston on Sunday, May 18, 2008. In the foreground walking away is Cleveland’s LeBron James (23). (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
It is the anniversary of two postseason wins since the season of Boston’s last title. The first was a 97-92 closeout victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the 2008 NBA Eastern Conference semifinals.
Paul Pierce and LeBron James went shot-for-shot for much of the contest, the latter scoring 45 points in the loss and the former 41 in one of the biggest games of his career.
Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce, center, yells as he heads to the basket between Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, left, and center Anderson Varejao, of Brazil, in Game 7 of an NBA Eastern Conference semifinal basketball series in Boston on Sunday, May 18, 2008. Pierce scored 41 points as the Celtics eliminated the Cavs 97-92 with the win. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Kevin Garnett added 13 points and as many rebounds, while forward P.J. Brown contributed 10 points and 6 boards off the bench. “It is a great feeling,” Pierce said via ESPN.
“We knew this was going to be a tough, tough series.”
After he fouled out, Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce celebrates as he jumps out of his seat watching Orlando Magic guard Vince Carter miss two free throws in the closing moments in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Boston won 95-92. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
It is also the date of a 95-92 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference finals. Boston narrowly avoided disaster with a late push led by Pierce (28 points and 5 assists) and point guard Rajon Rondo (25 points and 8 assists).
“Our fans won’t let us relax,” Pierce said courtesy of the Associated Press. “We’re going to try and close it out in four games.”
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