In January 1983, the Boston Celtics acquired Scott Wedman through a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was anticipated to be another piece in the puzzle that would enable Boston, winners of the 1981 NBA Championship but losers of the 1982 Finals, to return to the NBA Finals. Five months after Boston’s 1983 failure to make it to the championship round, the Celtics acquired experienced guard Dennis Johnson in a trade.
Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, and Larry Bird were surrounded by parts for the Celtics. Wedman was the missing component the Celtics were looking for after a chilly start to his time with the team. As he got to know his teammates more, he saw how fiercely competitive they were. Wedman didn’t fully understand Bird’s level of competition until they participated in a Boston 10K road event.
Scott Wedman said that he wasn’t welcomed with open arms by the Boston Celtics.
Wedman arrived in Boston in the middle of the 1982–83 campaign. After being eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference finals, the Celtics only wanted to make it back to the championship round. Wedman, a 6-foot-7 forward selected sixth overall in the 1974 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Celtics in exchange for Darren Tillis and a first-round pick.
Wedman claimed to remember the exchange very clearly. The Cavaliers, his previous team, were his first opponent as a member of the Celtics.
Wedman recalled the peculiar experience of getting dressed in the road locker room. “The players used to carry their own outfits and shoes back then. I was carrying both my road uniform and a pair of white basketball sneakers, which presented a slight issue. Basketball sneakers that are either green or black are worn by the Celtics. For the game, I had to paint my sneakers green.
Wedman spent five years as a player for the Celtics, where he took home titles in 1984 and 1986. With an average of 6.2 points in 14..9 minutes throughout that time, he was an important part of the bench. Wedman was a prolific scorer with the Kansas City Kings, averaging 16.5 points per game, before moving to Boston. In 89 games during his tenure with the Cavaliers, he scored 13.8 points.
