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Boston Celtics: 25 Best Players To Play For The Celtics

By Phil Watson

Apr 24, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of TD Garden prior to the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 24, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of TD Garden prior to the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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(Original Caption) Ballet at Boston Garden…Celtics’ Frank Ramsey, left, fingertips ball in ballet movement as Philadelphia Warriors’ York Larese, right, springs high in air during 3rd quarter action, Boston Garden (1/28). Celtics lost game, 133-129, their 4th straight loss.
(Original Caption) Ballet at Boston Garden…Celtics’ Frank Ramsey, left, fingertips ball in ballet movement as Philadelphia Warriors’ York Larese, right, springs high in air during 3rd quarter action, Boston Garden (1/28). Celtics lost game, 133-129, their 4th straight loss. /

player. 18. <strong> How Acquired: </strong>5th overall pick from Kentucky, 1953 NBA Draft. SG-SF. 1954-55, 1957-64. Frank Ramsey. 25

Swingman Frank Ramsey was a two-time All-American at Kentucky before he was taken fifth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1953 NBA Draft.

Ramsey elected to play a final year in college–earning a third All-America designation–before joining the Celtics in 1954, where he was part of the team’s rotation on the wing, becoming the first true sixth man in NBA lore,

Ramsey missed the 1955-56 season and the first part of the 1956-57 season while serving in the U.S. Army, but returned to the Celtics to be part of seven championship teams before retiring after the 1963-64 campaign.

Ramsey was fourth in the NBA in free-throw shooting in both 1960-61 and 1961-62.

In nine seasons, Ramsey averaged 13.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24.6 minutes per game, shooting 39.9 percent from the floor and 80.4 percent from the foul line. He does not appear on any of the team’s all-time lists.

In the 1959 NBA Playoffs, Ramsey averaged 23.2 points in just 27.5 minutes per game.

Ramsey was Red Auerbach’s first choice to replace him as Celtics’ coach in 1966, but he turned down the job.

He did coach the American Basketball Association’s Kentucky Colonels for part of the 1970-71 season, going 32-35 but leading the team to the ABA Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Utah Stars.

Ramsey was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Next: Nellie Another Great 6th Man

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