Former NBA player Sam Cassell is a far cry from his playing days.
At 54, he’s no longer the shifty guard who made an impact wherever he played throughout the 1990s. But Cassell has recently shown he can still go upstairs when asked. A video posted by Celtics On CLNS proved it.
Cassell is now an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, who are preparing to take on the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference. During a practice, it appeared that Celtics star Jayson Tatum challenged the coach when a basketball got stuck behind the backboard.
After a few stretches, Cassell got to work. He missed his first attempt but got the ball on the second jump. This success drew cheers from Tatum.
Posted by Celtics on CLNS on Sunday May 19, 2024
At 6-foot-3, that shouldn’t be too difficult a feat for Cassell, even at his age. Still, that was pretty impressive for someone who had been out of the game since 2008. He made his name primarily in the mid-’90s. Cassell, nicknamed “Sam I Am,” helped the Houston Rockets win championships in 1994 and 1995. These teams are often discredited because the titles were won during Michael Jordan’s first retirement.
But Cassell was a key player in both victories, especially the first when he was just a rookie. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in the Finals, which came in seven games against the New York Knicks. He beat that the following year when he averaged 14.3 points, 3.0 assists and 1.8 rebounds during the Rockets’ sweep of Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic.
Cassell bounced around the league for the rest of his career before winning a title with the Celtics as a role player in 2008.
Shandel Richardson is the editor of Back In The Day NBA. He can be contacted at [email protected]
