1946–47 Boston Celtics season

The 1946–47 Boston Celtics season was the first season of the Boston Celtics in the Basketball Association of America (BAA/NBA). Walter A. Brown was the man who was responsible for starting the franchise. In June 1946, Brown, who operated the Boston Garden arena and was part of the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins, was the driving force behind the Basketball Association of America and the Celtics birth.[1] After considering several team names, including Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics, Brown opted for Celtics.[2] He hoped to grab the attention of Boston's large Irish American population. John Davis "Honey" Russell was hired as the first Celtics coach, and the team soon began its inaugural season, losing its first game 59–53 to the Providence Steamrollers. The Celtics won their first game of the season against the Toronto Huskies on November 16, 1946.[3]

1946–47 Boston Celtics season
Head coachHoney Russell
OwnersWalter A. Brown
ArenaBoston Arena
Boston Garden
Results
Record22–38 (.367)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid Not Qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWMEX

Roster
Roster listing
1946–47 Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F 6–18 Brightman, Al 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-09-22 Long Beach State
F/C 11 Connors, Chuck 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-10 Seton Hall
F 15 Crisler, Hal 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1923-12-31 Iowa State
F 17 Duffy, Bob 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-07-05 Colgate
F 14 Eliason, Don 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1918-07-24 Hamline
F 7 Fenley, Warren 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922-02-08 Manhattan
G 15 Garfinkel, Jack 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1918-06-13 St. John's
G/F 4 Gray, Wyndol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Bowling Green
G 3 Hirsch, Mel 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1921-07-31 Brooklyn
G 3 Hoefer, Charlie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 158 lb (72 kg) 1917-07-12 Queens
F 14–24 Kelly, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1918-06-14 Marshall
C 9 Kottman, Harold 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-08-22 Culver–Stockton
G 5 Murphy, Dick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-03-10 Manhattan
F/C 10 Simmons, Connie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1925-03-15 Flushing HS (NY)
G 6 Simmons, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1924-07-07 NYU
F 12 Spector, Art 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-10-17 Villanova
F/C 17 Vaughn, Virgil 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1918-05-15 Western Kentucky
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

On November 5, the Celtics played their first game at the Boston Garden in front of 4,329 fans.[4] The game would be delayed an hour when the wooden backboard was damaged after a practice dunk during warm-ups. After the backboard was repaired, the Celtics lost to the Chicago Stags by a score 57–55. This would become the first ever broken backboard in BAA/NBA History.

Season standings
# Eastern Division
Team W L PCT GB
1 x-Washington Capitols4911.817–
2 x-Philadelphia Warriors3525.58314
3 x-New York Knicks3327.55016
4 Providence Steamrollers2832.46721
5 Boston Celtics2238.36727
6 Toronto Huskies2238.36727

Record vs. opponents
1946–47 BAA Records
Team BOS CHI CLE DET NYK PHI PIT PRO STL TOR WAS
Boston —0–62–43–34–21–55–11–51–54–21–5
Chicago 6–0—5–13–33–35–16–03–33–44–21–5
Cleveland 4–21–5—4–24–23–34–22–41–56–01–5
Detroit 3–33–32–4—1–52–43–32–40–63–31–5
New York 2–43–32-45–1—2–46–04–24–23–32–4
Philadelphia 5–11–53–34–24–2—5–14–23–35–11–5
Pittsburgh 1–50–62–43–30–61–5—3–31–53–31–5
Providence 5–13–34–24–22–42–43–3—2–43–30–6
St. Louis 5–14–35–16–02–43–35–14–2—2–42–4
Toronto 2–42–40–63–33–31–53–33–34–2—1–5
Washington 5–15–15–15–14–25–15–16–04–25–1—

Game log
1946–47 Game Log
November
December
January
February
March
1946–47 Schedule

Player stats

Season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG AST SPG BPG PPG
Connie Simmons 60.320.6776210.3
Al Brightman 58.256.627609.8
Wyndol Gray 55.292.581476.4
Art Spector 55.267.553466.0
Jerry Kelly 43.291.667246.0
Charlie Hoefer 35.241.634246.0
Red Wallace 24.246.438205.5
Johnny Simmons 60.280.614295.3
Chuck Connors 49.247.464404.6
Jack Garfinkel 40.266.607584.5
Harold Kottman 53.314.465173.1
Warren Fenley 33.225.511162.6
Tony Kappen 18.275.63264.1
Virgil Vaughn 17.192.536102.6
Mel Hirsch 13.200.500101.5
Dick Murphy 7.059.00030.9
Moe Becker 6.227.75012.2
Bob Duffy 6.2861.00001.3
Hal Crisler 4.3331.00001.5
Don Eliason 1.000–00.0

Transactions

Trades
December 12, 1946
 To Boston Celtics
Moe Becker[5]		 To Pittsburgh Ironmen
Tony Kappen
January 2, 1947
 To the Boston Celtics
Charlie Hoefer[5]		 To the Toronto Huskies
Red Wallace

Purchases
Player Date bought Previous team
Jack Garfinkel[6] January 16, 1947 Rochester Royals

References
  1. Celtics Lore | Celtics.com
  2. Boston Celtics Limited Partnership: Information and Much More from Answers.com
  3. "1946-47 Boston Celtics Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  4. Boston Celtics (1946–Present)
  5. "1946-47 Boston Celtics Transactions". Basketball Reference. Accessed on July 19, 2017.
  6. prosportstransactions.com
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