Boston Celtics: 15 players you forgot played for the Celtics
4. Al Jefferson
Al Jefferson was selected 15th overall in 2004 and became the first player the Boston Celtics ever drafted out of high school. There was so much hope that Jefferson could become a pillar for the Celtics, but due to a series of unfortunate injuries and eventual surgeries, Jefferson did not establish himself on the Celtics until his third season.
Jefferson’s best season for the Celtics came in 2006, where he started 60 of the 69 games that he was available to play and averaged a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds per game for the season that year. It’s worth mentioning that the Celtics’ then head coach, Doc Rivers, moved the 6’10” Jefferson from the power-forward position to the center position.
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The position change opened up more of Jefferson’s overall game, which started to become appealing to other teams around the league. Jefferson was the eventual centerpiece in the franchise-changing trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston, along with the Celtics’ 17th NBA championship.
After starting his career with the Celtics, Jefferson would go on to play for four other teams in the NBA before joining a Chinese league in 2018. In 2019, he signed a contract to play in the BIG3 Basketball League, which has become another avenue for professional basketball.