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 both the Basketball Association of America and the Celtics' birth.Celtics Lore | Celtics.com After considering several team names, including Whirlwinds, Unicorns, and Olympics, Brown opted for the Celtics as the official team name, though it also involved Brown paying the likes of Jim Furay, the team manager of the Original Celtics franchise, to allow for the Boston Celtics to use the rights of the famous Celtics name for Boston's own basketball team since Furay's own team was going to be reactivated as the Troy Celtics in the older, technically rivaling American Basketball League for what would later become its final season of play there.Boston Celtics Limited Partnership: Information and Much More from Answers.com, p. 37 Walter A. Brown had hoped to grab the attention of Boston's large Irish American population. John David "Honey" Russell was hired as the first Celtics coach (though he wasn't their first option for the first ever head coach at the time since Frank Keaney was intended to be their first head coaching option for the team at the time, p. 39), and the team soon began its inaugural season, losing its first game 59–53 to the Providence Steamrollers. The Celtics later won their first game of the season against the Toronto Huskies on November 16, 1946. Greater details on their first season would be explored in Charley Rosen's book called "The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA", with an entire chapter dedicated to the Celtics' first season in the BAA/NBA alongside the various highs and lows (mostly lows from this specific season) that would eventually lead to them becoming the franchise that they are today., pp. 37–63
Roster Due to this being the first season in the franchise's history, the BAA didn't utilize a draft system like they would in future seasons of the BAA/NBA and instead relied upon some combination of the head coach and the general manager of the team finding and signing players in time to start out their training camp period for the season., p. 40 For the Celtics, they looked at players that head coach Honey Russell had largely known from either the older American Basketball League or the otherwise defunct Eastern Basketball League for training camp invites, such as former (original) Baltimore Bullets and Trenton Tigers player Virgil Vaughn from Western Kentucky University, former New York Westchesters/Westchester Indians and Brooklyn Gothams player Warren Fenley from Manhattan College, former Brooklyn Indians and Original Celtics guard Mel Hirsch from Brooklyn College, former (original) Baltimore Bullets and Trenton Tigers player Art Spector from Villanova University, former New York Westchesters/Westchester Indians and Brooklyn Gothams player Red Wallace from the University of Scranton, former Jersey Reds, Brooklyn Visitations, Baltimore Clippers, New York Jewels, and Brooklyn Gothams player Tony Kappen from Forest Hills High School, John Simmons from New York University, Connie Simmons from Flushing High School, former Wilkes-Barre Barons player Al Brightman from Morris Harvey College, Harold Kottman from Culver–Stockton College, Wyndol Gray from Bowling Green State University, and former Brooklyn Indians, Wilmington Bombers, Paterson Crescents, and rivaling NBL team Rochester Royals player Chuck Connors from Seton Hall College to open up their first ever season of play., pp. 41–46
Regular season On November 5, the Celtics played their first game at the Boston Arena in front of 4,329 fans. The game would be delayed for an hour when the wooden backboard was damaged after a practice shot (not a slam dunk) from Chuck Connors occurred during warm-ups, with the team getting their spare backboard from the occupied (at that point in time) Boston Garden, which was hosting a rodeo show at the time. While the team tried to entertain the crowd with a three-on-three match of sorts with the single remaining backboard, by the time the spare backboard was installed, it was suggested that only half of the original crowd remained to actually watch the game properly. 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., pp. 37–38
Season standings
Game log
| 1 || November 2 || @ Providence Steamrollers || 53–59 || Rhode Island Auditorium || Red Wallace (9) || 0–1 |- | 2 || November 5 || Chicago Stags || 55–57 || Boston Arena || John Simmons (13) || 0–2 |- | 3 || November 9 || @ Detroit Falcons || 46–69 || Detroit Olympia || Art Spector (12) || 0–3 |- | 4 || November 13 || @ Chicago Stags || 61–71 || Chicago Stadium || John Simmons (14) || 0–4 |- | 5 || November 14 || @ St. Louis Bombers || 62–64 || St. Louis Arena || Gray, Wallace (12) || 0–5 |- | 6 || November 16 || Toronto Huskies || 53–49 || Boston Garden || Wyndol Gray (13) || 1–5 |- | 7 || November 21 || St. Louis Bombers || 53–65 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (9) || 1–6 |- | 8 || November 22 || @ Toronto Huskies || 82–83 || Maple Leaf Gardens || Connie Simmons (18) || 1–7 |- | 9 || November 23 || @ Detroit Falcons || 46–54 || Detroit Olympia || Connie Simmons (15) || 1–8 |- | 10 || November 25 || Providence Steam Rollers || 59–71 || Boston Garden || John Simmons (14) || 1–9 |- | 11 || November 26 || Philadelphia Warriors || 54–66 || Philadelphia Arena || Connie Simmons (15) || 1–10 |- | 12 || November 28 || Pittsburgh Ironmen || 59–55 || Boston Garden || Harold Kottman (19) || 2–10
| 13 || December 1 || @ Chicago Stags || 56–66 || Chicago Stadium || Al Brightman (26) || 2–11 |- | 14 || December 2 || @ Pittsburgh Ironmen || 46–44 || Duquesne Gardens || Al Brightman (11) || 3–11 |- | 15 || December 5 || Detroit Falcons || 61–65 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (10) || 3–12 |- | 16 || December 7 || New York Knickerbockers || 65–90 || Boston Garden || Gray, Kottman (15) || 3–13 |- | 17 || December 8 || @ New York Knickerbockers || 44–62 || Madison Square Garden || Wyndol Gray (13) || 3–14 |- | 18 || December 12 || Detroit Falcons || 73–66 || Boston Garden || Jerry Kelly (21) || 4–14 |- | 19 || December 14 || Philadelphia Warriors || 77–65 (OT) || Boston Garden || Red Wallace (19) || 5–14 |- | 20 || December 19 || St. Louis Bombers || 74–76 || Boston Garden || Al Brightman (13) || 5–15 |- | 21 || December 22 || @ St. Louis Bombers || 53–65 (OT) || St. Louis Arena || Chuck Connors (14) || 5–16 |- | 22 || December 23 || @ Pittsburgh Ironmen || 54–64 || Duquesne Gardens || C. Simmons, Spector (9) || 5–17 |- | 23 || December 27 || Philadelphia Warriors || 60–63 || Boston Arena || Al Brightman (17) || 5–18 |- | 24 || December 28 || @ Providence Steam Rollers || 68–80 || Rhode Island Auditorium || Wyndol Gray (17) || 5–19 |- | 25 || December 30 || Washington Capitols || 60–70 (OT) || Boston Arena || Connie Simmons (19) || 5–20
| 26 || January 3 || @ Toronto Huskies || 58–53 || Maple Leaf Gardens || Al Brightman (21) || 6–20 |- | 27 || January 6 || Cleveland Rebels || 53–64 || Boston Arena || Connors, Gray (15) || 6–21 |- | 28 || January 10 || New York Knicks || 66–62 || Boston Arena || Al Brightman (18) || 7–21 |- | 29 || January 11 || @ Providence Steam Rollers || 73–72 || Rhode Island Auditorium || Al Brightman (17) || 8–21 |- | 30 || January 16 || Washington Capitols || 47–38 || Boston Garden || Al Brightman (14) || 9–21 |- | 31 || January 18 || @ New York Knickerbockers || 58–45 || Madison Square Garden || Al Brightman (19) || 10–21 |- | 32 || January 20 || Chicago Stags || 54–81 || Boston Garden || Wyndol Gray (13) || 10–22 |- | 33 || January 21 || @ Philadelphia Warriors || 43–59 || Philadelphia Arena || John Simmons (10) || 10−23 |- | 34 || January 23 || Pittsburgh Ironmen || 48–43 || Boston Garden || Charlie Hoefer (11) || 11–23 |- | 35 || January 25 || @ New York Knickerbockers || 52–46 || Madison Square Garden || Al Brightman (17) || 11–24 |- | 36 || January 27 || Washington Capitols || 57–80 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (12) || 12–24 |- | 37 || January 29 || @ Washington Capitols || 57–69 || Uline Arena || Connie Simmons (11) || 12–25 |- | 38 || January 30 || Pittsburgh Ironmen || 66–51 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (18) || 13–25
| 39 || February 3 || Philadelphia Warriors || 55–61 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (17) || 13–26 |- | 40 || February 6 || New York Knickerbockers || 49–48 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (14) || 14–26 |- | 41 || February 13 || St. Louis Bombers || 64–54 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (17) || 15–26 |- | 42 || February 16 || @ Chicago Stags || 77–84 || Chicago Stadium || Connie Simmons (25) || 15–27 |- | 43 || February 18 || @ Cleveland Rebels || 73–84 || Cleveland Arena || Connie Simmons (21) || 15–28 |- | 44 || February 19 || @ Detroit Falcons || 57–51 || Detroit Olympia || Connie Simmons (18) || 16–28 |- | 45 || February 21 || @ Toronto Huskies || 61–67 || Maple Leaf Gardens || Connie Simmons (26) || 16–29 |- | 46 || February 23 || Providence Steam Rollers || 55–67 || Boston Arena || Al Brightman (14) || 16–30 |- | 47 || February 24 || @ Washington Capitals || 59–83 || Uline Arena || Al Brightman (14) || 16–31 |- | 48 || February 28 || Cleveland Rebels || 69–62 || Boston Arena || Al Brightman (22) || 17–31
| 49 || March 1 || @ Washington Capitols || 52–75 || Uline Arena || Jack Garfinkel (18) || 17–32 |- | 50 || March 6 || Detroit Falcons || 74–65 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (19) || 18–32 |- | 50 || March 8 || Toronto Huskies || 67–65 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (19) || 19–32 |- | 52 || March 10 || Providence Steam Rollers || 70–87 || Boston Garden || John Simmons (17) || 19–33 |- | 53 || March 12 || Toronto Huskies || 69–57 || Boston Garden || Hoefer, J. Simmons (13) || 20–33 |- | 54 || March 13 || @ Philadelphia Warriors || 57–81 || Philadelphia Arena || Charlie Hoefer (12) || 20–34 |- | 55 || March 18 || Cleveland Rebels || 58–67 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (14) || 20–35 |- | 56 || March 24 || Chicago Stags || 69–80 || Boston Garden || Connie Simmons (17) || 20–36 |- | 57 || March 25 || @ Cleveland Rebels || 64–72 || Cleveland Arena || Art Spector (19) || 20–37 |- | 58 || March 26 || Pittsburgh Ironmen || 74–61|| Duquesne Gardens || Al Brightman (17) || 21–37 |- | 59 || March 29 || @ St. Louis Bombers || 55–59 || St. Louis Arena || Al Brightman (15) || 21–38 |- | 60 || March 30 || @ Cleveland Rebels || 71–66 || Cleveland Arena || Connie Simmons (20) || 22–38
| 1946–47 Schedule
Player stats Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG AST SPG BPG PPG 60 .320 .677 62 10.3 58 .256 .627 60 9.8 55 .292 .581 47 6.4 55 .267 .553 46 6.0 43 .291 .667 24 6.0 35 .241 .634 24 6.0 24 .246 .438 20 5.5 60 .280 .614 29 5.3 49 .247 .464 40 4.6 40 .266 .607 58 4.5 53 .314 .465 17 3.1 33 .225 .511 16 2.6 18 .275 .632 6 4.1 17 .192 .536 10 2.6 13 .200 .500 10 1.5 7 .059 .000 3 0.9 6 .227 .750 1 2.2 6 .286 1.000 0 1.3 4 .333 1.000 0 1.5 1 .000 – 0 0.0
Transactions Trades December 12, 1946 To Boston CelticsMoe Becker"1946-47 Boston Celtics Transactions". Basketball Reference. Accessed on July 19, 2017. To Pittsburgh IronmenTony Kappen January 2, 1947 To the Boston CelticsCharlie Hoefer To the Toronto HuskiesRed Wallace
Purchases PlayerDate boughtPrevious teamJack Garfinkelprosportstransactions.comJanuary 16, 1947Rochester Royals
Season losses