Sam Jones played at North Carolina Central, not the University of North Carolina, so he was not highly recruited at the NBA level, but Red Auerbach took a chance on him after his scouts told him this was, in fact, the best player in the state.  The gamble proved fruitful as the versatile Jones would prove to be one of the best clutch shooters of his era, so much so that he was nicknamed "Mr. Clutch."

An occasional visitor at Cheers, Kevin McHale, would play his entire NBA career with the Boston Celtics, where he was as selfless as he was popular.  McHale was drafted third overall in 1980, and he would become part of Boston's "Big 3" of the 1980s with Larry Bird and Robert Parish.  McHale was excellent in the paint on both offense and defense, showing strong shooting skills and blocking ability.  The quintessential Power Forward, McHale regularly abused his opponents, whether he was starting or coming off the bench —often the latter— and he rewarded the Celtics for that decision by winning the Sixth Man of the Year in both 1984 and 1985.  

Think about this for a minute.  Robert Parish logged 1,102 regular season games for the Boston Celtics, which is well more than most players do in their entire lifetime.  That was only 1,102 of 1,611 that the Chief would play in the NBA!

Paul Pierce had a good rookie season (1998-99), averaging just over 16 Points per Game, but it is unlikely that even the biggest diehard Celtic fan knew how good he would become.  Pierce would explode two years later with a 25 PPG year, which was followed by five straight All-Star seasons that included a pair of Third Team All-NBA Selections.  Nicknamed "The Truth", Pierce was an elite shooter and a more than competent court general, but the Celtics didn't have much around him. They couldn't escape the middle of the Eastern pack until the Boston management swung for the fences, landing Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and this version of the "Big 3" would win it all in 2008, and Pierce would begin a second five-year All-Star run.  In those Finals, Pierce would win the MVP, which was so appropriate given how long he carried the team before he got the help he needed.