Welcome back to the Celtics season tipoff countdown!

Each day, we’ll give a review of news surrounding the Celtics. We’ll also look back in history to see what happened on today’s date in team history (August 24th). To round out the day’s post, we’ll give you stats and fun facts related to the number of days remaining before the first game (53 today). Let’s get to it!

Recent Team News

On Tuesday, the tribe that Kyrie Irving’s mom is a member of invited the Celtics point guard. The tribe celebrated the heritage of Kyrie and his sister, Asia, as they welcomed the siblings as members of the Standing Rock Sioux. The tribe gave Kyrie a traditional Lakota name of “Little Mountain”. He has been a vocal opponent of the Dakota Access Pipeline in the past, and the tribe based in North Dakota wanted to honor him for being outspoken about his heritage.

In other news, Jayson Tatum turned some heads when he said he would be okay with the idea of coming of the bench. “I understand how deep our team is,” he said. “I just care about winning and doing what I can while I’m on the floor.” On a team loaded with talent, fans had to have been wondering about who would see their role reduced. It’s great to hear Tatum taking on the team-first mindset.

Tatum

: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

On This Date

Apparently nothing happened on August 24 in previous years.

Stats (2017-18)

  • Daniel Theis averaged 5.3 points for the team. He did so while shooting 54% from the field before a season ending injury.
  • Jaylen Brown averaged 5.3 made shots per game. He took 11.5 each game, shooting 49 percent from the field.

Fun Facts

  • Four players have worn the number 53 for the Celtics. The most notable is Rick Robey, who wore it in his time with the team from 1979-1983.
  • The 1953 Celtics went 46-25 and finished third in the East.

That concludes today’s Countdown to Celtics Tipoff. Make sure to check back here tomorrow as the clock continues to tick towards the 2018-19 season!