On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Kevin Douglas Gamble was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1965. A product of the University of Iowa, Gamble was taken with the 63rd overall pick (there were many more rounds to the draft in that era) of the 1987 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
He played for that team briefly before spending time as a member of several teams in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA — an analog to today’s G League), the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), and the World Basketball League (WBL), common destinations at that time for players not quite good enough for the NBA.
In December of 1988, Gamble got picked up by the Celtics to help cover for an injured Larry Bird and managed to parlay the opportunity into increasingly important roles, eventually becoming a starter by the 1990-91 season.