One player still alive from first Celtic team in '46-'47

by **steve3344** Tue Mar 01, 2016 8:24 am

He's alive! I just noticed that Charlie Hofer, a 5'9" shooting guard (hey, he could look Isaiah Thomas right in the eye!) who played on the first Celtic team in the league's inaugural season of 1946-47 is the only one still alive. Charlie will be a spry 99 years old this July. Isaiah should take him out to dinner:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hoefech01.html

Don't know much about his game but he was a better free throw shooter than Rondo, knocking them down at a 64.6% clip.

Amazingly the whole Celtic team that year only shot 59% on free throws. Pretty wretched:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1947.html

Celtics used 20 players that season trying to find the right chemistry. Finishing that season at 22-38, it inevitably eluded them.

Their coach that year? Russell.

John Russell. But, in name, at least a partial forbearer of better things to come for the franchise...