02-06-2025
On this day: Hank Beenders, Eric Riley, Dontae Jones born
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston big man Hank Beenders was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands in 1916. Beenders would later immigrate to the U.S. at age eight and won a National Invitational Tournament championship with Long Island University in 1942. He then would join the Providence Steamrollers as one of the first international players of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a precursor league to the NBA.
He would be traded to the then-Philadelphia Warriors in 1948, who would turn around and deal him to the Celtics in that same year with center Chick Halbert for big man Ed Sadowski.
The Haarlem native would play just 8 games for Boston in 1948-49, his last stop in the BAA. He averaged 2.4 points and 0.4 assists per game -- rebounds were not yet being recorded.
It is also the birthday of former Celtics small forward Dontae' Jones, born in 1975 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jones played his college ball with Mississippi State. He was drafted with the 21st overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft and then traded to Boston for Chris Mills shortly after the start of the 1997–98 NBA season. Jones would play 15 games for the Celtics that season, recording 2.9 points, 0.6 boards, and 0.3 assists per game before being waived by the team in January 1999.
Finally, it is also the birthday of former Celtics center Eric Riley, born this day in 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio. A Michigan alum, Riley was taken with the 33rd overall pick of the 1993 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks.
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He would play for the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Clippers as well as a stint overseas before joining Boston as a free agent in 1999. He would play one season for the Celtics, averaging 2.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game with the team.
