The 5 best Boston Celtics Summer League players ever
Both Boston Celtics legends and forgotten fan favorites have been forged in summer leagues throughout the century.
With the 2024 Las Vegas NBA Summer League underway, let's look back at some of the best players to wear green in the offseason.
The most popular iteration of the NBA summer league, the one held in Las Vegas, has been active since 2004, while other smaller tournaments have been hosted throughout the years in Utah and Orlando. Rosters typically feature players in their first couple of seasons in the league.
Honorable mentions include: Jaylen Brown, unsurprisingly; Al Jefferson, the 2004 15th overall pick famously dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett in 2007; and Luke Harangody, the 52nd overall pick from 2010 out of Notre Dame. Jefferson appeared in 11 games across the 2004 and 2005 summer leagues, scoring 18 points and grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game in 2004. He went on to have a solid 14-year career across the league. Harangody was a surprise in the summer of 2010 for the C’s, averaging 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds across five starts.
No. 5: RJ Hunter
RJ Hunter was one of the most intruging second round picks in Celtics history, fresh off an incredible March Madness run with Georgia State University that showcased his shot-making ability and clutch play.
He led the Celtics' summer league team to a 4-1 record in 2015, averaging 15.6 points per game. He put up 22 points off the bench in a two-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the quarterfinals of the tournament. He didn’t start in any games that summer, but thoroughly outperformed the starting backcourt of Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier when given the chance.
His best regular season moment for the Celtics came in his second brief stint with the team, playing in the final game of the 2018 season and scoring 17 points with four three-pointers.
He couldn’t get it going for teams in the regular season, and has played in just 45 career games across four years. He tried two seasons of basketball overseas, one in Turkey and one in Australia. He’s currently under contract with the Charlotte Hornets through this summer, where he's listed on the Greensboro Swarm roster.