That day at Boston Celtics Former Celtics power forward Marvin Barnes passed away in 2014. Barnes was originally from Providence, Rhode Island. After being born in the smallest state in the United States in 1952, he played NCAA basketball with his hometown Providence College Friars before being drafted by the Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers during the 1974 NBA draft.
The Rhode Islander opted to sign with the St. Louis Spirits of the American Basketball Association (ABA) instead, playing for that franchise for two seasons before joining the Detroit Pistons in 1976 after the St. Louis Spirits draft.
The dispersal draft was a result of the ABA-NBA merger when that team did not join the NBA. The Pistons traded Barnes to the Buffalo Braves in 1977, who in turn traded him to the Celtics in 1978. Barnes played 38 games for Boston in the 1978–79 season, averaging 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game with the team.
There’s a lot going on in this old 76ers-Celtics clip:
Dr. J’s two finishes, Tiny’s pass to Cedric Maxwell (wearing #30), Dave Cowens as player/coach, Marvin Barnes in a Celtics uniform, Hondo on commentary, and (no biggie) a roof leak ON THE ACTUAL PLAYING FIELD!
January 21, 1979 pic.twitter.com/3RvgOcM29l
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) July 12, 2020
It’s also the birthday of former Boston great John Thomas, born today in Minneapolis, Minnesotain 1975. A standout player at the University of Minnesota, Thomas was drafted by the The New York Knicks with the 25th pick in the 1995 NBA draft.
He never played for New York, however. He was traded for Dontae’ Jones, Walter McCarty and Scott Brooks (yes, that Scott Brooks) to the Celtics in exchange for Chris Mills and draft assets.
Thomas played only 33 games for Boston in the 1997-98 season. In those games, he averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds before being traded to Chauncey BillupsDee Brown and Roy Rogers at the Toronto Raptors for Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones and Zan Tabak in 1998.
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This article was originally published on Celtics Wire: Celtics History: Marvin Barnes Dies, John Thomas Is Born
