Boston Celtics: 15 players you forgot played for the Celtics

13. Chuck Cooper

Chuck Cooper should be recognized on this list as a member of the Boston Celtics for a few different reasons. To start, in 1950, Cooper was the first African American basketball player to be drafted to the NBA. The Celtics’ original owner, Walter Brown, and his fearless leader of a head coach, Red Auerbach, paved the way for racial equality in the NBA. There simply couldn’t have been a better team to start the trend of drafting African American players than the Boston Celtics.

Cooper was 6’5”, could respectably play both forward positions, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2019. Cooper had a short playing career that didn’t go beyond the 1950s. He played four seasons with the Boston Celtics and finished his career averaging 6.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a member of the Celtics. He would also play for the Milwaukee Hawks and Fort Wayne Pistons prior to retiring from the NBA.

Prior to being drafted, Cooper signed a contract with the Harlem Globetrotters to be one of basketball’s well-known magicians. After he retired from the NBA, Cooper spent a year traveling the world and performing for the Harlem Magicians (same idea as the Globetrotters) before injuring his back in a car accident.

During Cooper’s six-year professional career, he finished with 2,725 points, 2,431 rebounds, and 734 assists. His time on the Celtics or even in the NBA was short, but Cooper is definitely deserving of being on this list.