11 past and present Celtics players who were born in Massachusetts

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If the odds of getting into the NBA are slim, then the odds of someone from Massachusetts getting into the NBA are extremely slim.

There have only ever been 47 NBA players from Massachusetts, according to Basketball Reference.

Even fewer chances exist of getting to play for the home team, the Celtics. Ten of those 47 guys ended up playing for the Celtics during the regular season.

If Georges Niang, who was just acquired in the deal for Kristaps Porzingis, is still on the roster by opening night, he might be the eleventh.

Here are some observations about Niang and the other 10 natives of Massachusetts who were involved in at least one Celtics game.

Barros, Dana

Two Massachusetts natives, including Barros, were selected to the NBA All-Star team. The other is Bill Laimbeer, a former big man with the Pistons who famously clotheslined Larry Bird in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1987.

Barros, a 5-foot-11-inch point guard, spent two stints with the Celtics during his 14-year NBA career. In 1995, he was named to the All-Star team and won the Most Improved Player award.

Before being chosen in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, the Mattapan native excelled at Xaverian and Boston College. In the offseason of 1995, he signed a contract with the Celtics.

In 1996, he had his greatest season with Boston, averaging 13 points and 3.8 assists.

Bigelow, Bob

The Kansas City Kings selected Bigelow, a native of Winchester, with the 13th overall pick in the 1975 NBA draft. Over the course of four NBA seasons, the 6-foot-7 forward participated in 94 games.

During his brief time with the Celtics in 1978, he averaged 1.5 points per game while appearing in four games.

Later on, he developed a passion for teaching people about young athletics. Just Let the Kids Play: How to Stop Other Adults from Ruining Your Child’s Fun and Success in Youth Sports is a book he wrote in 2001.

At age 66, he passed away in 2020.

Foley, Jack

Foley, a native of Worcester, was a three-time All-American while playing collegiate basketball for Holy Cross.

His propensity for scoring goals earned him the moniker “The Shot.” During his senior year, he scored 33.3 points per game on average for the Crusaders.

Although the 6-foot-3-inch forward was chosen by the Celtics in the second round of the 1962 draft, his professional career was short-lived. Over the course of two seasons, he participated in 11 games, five of them with the Celtics.

Chris Herren

After several failed drug tests, Herren, a Fall River native, was expelled from Boston College after playing collegiate basketball for a short time.

Denver picked the 6-foot-2 point guard in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft after he finished his collegiate basketball career at Fresno State.

In 2001, Herren spent one season as a member of the Celtics. Before being cut, he made seven starts and played in 25 games under Rick Pitino.

In 2011, ESPN debuted a documentary about Herren’s career called Unguarded.

Kimball, Toby

Born in Framingham, Kimball was selected to the All-Yankee Conference three times while attending UConn.

The 6-foot-8 forward was selected by the Celtics in the third round of the 1965 NBA Draft. Before joining the Celtics, he spent a year playing abroad in Italy. In 1966, he played for Boston for one season.

With stops in San Diego, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, Kimball spent nine seasons in the NBA. Over his career, he averaged 6.8 rebounds and 6.1 points.

Lavelli, Tony

Lavelli was selected by the Celtics with the fourth overall choice in the 1949 draft. At Yale, the Somerville native took home the 1949 NCAA scoring championship. He averaged 8.8 points during his one season with the Celtics in 1949–50.

He began a long career as a musician after playing with the Knicks for one more season.

Lavelli was well-known for his accordion playing, and during his playing career, he even had a special deal to perform in the Boston Garden during halftime.

Niang Georges

In a three-team trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks, Niang joined the Celtics last week.

He played basketball at Tilton in New Hampshire for high school and Iowa State for college, where he was selected to the first team All-Big 12 twice. He grew up as a Celtics fan while residing in Methuen.

Niang has made a name for himself as a bench sharpshooter. He has ten years of NBA experience. He has averaged 9.9 points per game and is a career 39.9 percent 3-point shooter. His sixth separate team is the Celtics.

Tsioropoulos Lou

During his three NBA seasons, Tsioropoulos played on two Celtics championship teams (1957 and 1959).

The Lynn native was chosen by the Celtics in the seventh round of the 1953 NBA Draft after playing collegiate basketball at Kentucky. Tsioropoulos is a member of the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Wildcats retired his No. 16 jersey.

Prior to beginning his NBA career with Boston, he also served in the Air Force.

Turner, Wayne

Turner, a Beaver Country Day alumnus and Boston native, played collegiate basketball at Kentucky for Rick Pitino.

While Pitino was coaching the Celtics in 2000, he played three games for the team after going undrafted in 1999.

Later on, he played for a number of professional basketball teams, including the New Zealand Breakers and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Vonleh Noah

Vonleh played for the Celtics in the last season of his eight-year NBA career. In 2023, he participated in 23 games and made one start.

After excelling at Indiana, the Salem native was selected in the 2014 lottery with the ninth overall pick. He was a member of eight different teams.

Weitzman, Rick

Weitzman, a graduate of Northeastern and Brookline High, spent one season with the Celtics in 1968. That year, Boston took home the championship. Weitzman, a 6-foot-2 point guard, averaged 1.3 points per game while playing in 25 games.

Weitzman joined Johnny Most as a color analyst for Celtics radio shows when he finished playing, and he eventually became the team’s scout director.

He is a member of the Varsity Club Hall of Fame at Northeastern.

Boston.com’s Khari Thompson reports on professional sports. Khari worked as a college football reporter for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, prior to joining the team in 2022.