77. Ed MaCauley
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The Boston Celtics have had many stars over their glorious history but the first was Ed MaCauley. A player whose legacy is largely forgotten almost entirely if it wasn’t for a trade which changed the fortunes of the Boston Celtics forever in 1956.
MaCauley attended the University of St Louis for four years from 1945-1949 where he was a four year starter and still considered one of the best players in the history of St Louis basketball. He appeared in 104 games and averaged 14 points a game.
The St Louis Bombers drafted MaCauley in the 1949 Basketball Association of American draft. He had a very solid rookie season averaging 16 points a game for the Bombers on nearly 40% shooting. The following season the BAA and NBL merged to form the National Basketball Association, unfortunately for the Bombers they didn’t have the financial backing to continue operations and disbanded. MaCauley was than picked up by the Boston Celtics.
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In his first season with the Celtics MaCauley averaged a career high 20 points a game and was selected to the inaugural all-star game where he took MVP honors. McCauley would average around 20 points a game in 4 of his six seasons in Boston and around 8 and a half rebounds a game in all but one season. He also made the all-star team six times as a member of the Celtics.
The addition of MaCauley was the first of several moves made by the Boston Celtics in 1950 which would transform the franchise from a pathetic loser to one of the premier franchises in all of sports. That season the Celtics also added point guard Bob Cousey and coach Red Auerbach. With the trio the Celtics made the playoffs every year MaCauley was there and would start a streak of 19 consecutive playoff appearances.
Though they where making the playoffs and winning the Celtics were never good enough to get over the hump. That was until they saw an opportunity to trade for a potential legendary big man who was unhappy with the team who drafted him. The St Louis Hawks had drafted San Francisco center Bill Russell but to two sides had immediate problems and Russell feared going to the south during a time of such racial tensions would be a bad idea. So Russell was traded to the Boston Celtics for MaCauley and Cliff Hagen. The trade was actually a pretty decent one as MaCauley and Hagan were both all-stars but it is often looked upon as a terrible deal because both players were old by the day’s standards and Russell would guide the Celtics to 11 NBA titles in 13 years.
With his new team the Hawks, MaCauley continued to put up good numbers and was a one time all-star with the Hawks. Teamed with Bob Pettit the Hawks would become the Celtics biggest rivals. The two teams met in the 1957 NBA finals but it was Russell and the Celtics who would taste victory, the two teams met again in 1958 but this time the Hawks would capture their lone NBA title.
After the 1958 NBA title MaCauley declined rapidly and played only sparingly the following season before retiring. He appeared in 641 career games averaged 18 points and 8 rebounds and was a 7 time all-star. He was elected to the hall of fame in 1960.
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