Today in Boston Celtics history: KG wins Defensive Player of the Year; John Bagley born

TL;DR

On this day in Celtics history, John Bagley was born in 1960 and Kevin Garnett won the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Key points

John Bagley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1960.
Bagley played for the Celtics from 1989 to 1992.
Kevin Garnett won the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Mentioned in this story

John BagleyKevin Garnett

Boston CelticsCleveland CavaliersNew Jersey NetsAtlanta Hawks

Today in Boston Celtics history, John Bagley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1960. He played his college basketball at nearby Boston College before being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the 12th overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft. Bagley played for the Cavaliers and the (then) New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets before being traded to the Celtics in 1989.

Bags played for the Celtics for three seasons between 1989 and 1992 but missed the 1990-91 season entirely due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery. He would average 5.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in that stretch with the team.

Bagley signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks in November 1993, his last stop in the league before retiring.

Historic milestones

It was on this date when, on their way to winning the team’s 17th banner, future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett was presented with the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award. It came before a 96-77 Game 2 win over the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden that saw a raucous crowd chant “M-V-P” as KG was handed another piece of season-long hardware.