The Boston Celtics

Perhaps no other team in professional sports is as respected, revered, and successful as the Boston Celtics. The Celtics controlled the ranks of professional basketball in the late 1950s and during the 1960s, overshadowing the entire league. Not until the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s has a team even come close to the heights the Boston Celtics reached at the peak of their success. The team produced some of the most memorable moments in sports history on its way to a record 16 NBA World Championships.

Created as one of the original members of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) on June 6, 1946, the Celtics found hard times in their initial years because Bostonians were much more interested in baseball and hockey in the early years of the franchise. However, their opening home game on November 5, 1946, proved exciting. Future actor and star of The Rifleman Chuck Connors broke a backboard with a slam-dunk, delaying the game. The BAA became the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1949/50 season, and with the hiring of coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach in 1950, the Celtics started on their road to sports history at the dawn of a new and consolidated league.

The Auerbach years of the Celtics were some of the most magical in all of sports. He revolutionized the way basketball was played by emphasizing the concept of the fast break and the sixth man. In the process, he built one of the most dominant teams in the history of professional sports. The Celtics also made history in the 1950s by drafting the first black player in the NBA, Charles Cooper. In 1956, big man Bill Russell joined the Celtics, thus giving them the most amazing player of the times. Russell also contributed to change in the way basketball was played, doing things on the court that no other player of his size had ever done. Combined with star guard Bob Cousy, Russell led a strong supporting cast of players to the 1957 NBA Championship, the franchise's first, but far from last, victory.

Starting in 1959, the Celtics won the next eight NBA titles in a row, and a total of 11 in a 13-year span. During this stretch, they at one time had three future basketball Hall of Fame members who didn't even start. The Celtics finished off the decade with victories in 1968 and 1969 after which, by their high standards, the team declined somewhat. Nonetheless, they won another pair of NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. Larry Bird, one of the next generation's dominant players, joined the Celtics for the 1979/80 season and, along with teammates Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale, returned the Celtics to their former glory and dominance by leading them to championship seasons in 1981, 1984, and 1986. Some of the greatest players basketball has known wore the Celtic green, among them John Havlicek, K.C. Jones, Dave Cowens, Don Nelson, Tom Heinsohn, and Frank Ramsey.

The Boston Celtics defined what it means to be a dynasty in sports. Their appeal as a hard-working, blue-collar team under Red Auerbach appealed to the city of Boston and gained widespread support, giving definition to the term "Celtic Pride." The familiar parquet floor, the leprechaun mascot, and Celtic green have become familiar images to all followers of basketball, as well as sports fans in general.

—Jay Parrent

Further Reading:

Fitzgerald, Joe. That Championship Feeling: The Story of the Boston Celtics. New York, Scribner Publishing, 1975.

Heinsohn, Tommy H. and Leonard Lewin. Tommy, Don't You Ever Smile? The Life and Times of Tommy Heinsohn and the Boston Celtics. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, 1976.

Henshaw, Tom. The Boston Celtics: A Championship Tradition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1974.