Hoops
CELTIC SCORES VS. SYRACUSE AT GARDEN, ca. 1952. Leslie Jones Collection, BPL Print Department.
In this image, Celtic Chuck Cooper leaps over defenders from the Syracuse Nationals, later the Philadelphia 76ers. Cooper was the first African-American drafted by a professional team when the Boston Celtics selected him in 1950.
The Garden welcomed the Boston Celtics in 1946, when the professional basketball team was imported from its previous home at the Boston Arena across town.
The Celtics brought the Arena’s parquet floor with them, which had been constructed from wood scraps during a post-war lumber shortage. The floor and its irregularities became a signature feature of the Garden.
