The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. Founded in 1946 as a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, the Celtics then moved into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949, as said league was formed by the merger of the BAA and the National Basketball League. Currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, the Celtics have the most NBA titles with 18 championships. Eleven of those occurred between 1957 and 1969, with a dynasty led by center Bill Russell and coach/general manager Red Auerbach. The Celtics won two more titles in the 1970s under coach Tom Heinsohn, and three more in the 1980s under the leadership of forward Larry Bird. After a 22-year drought, the Celtics got a title in 2008, and then another in 2024.
1946–1956: Building the dynasty
The Celtics were formed in 1946 as a team in the Basketball Association of America, and became part of the National Basketball Association after the merger of the BAA and the National Basketball League to form the NBA in the fall of 1949. In 1950, the Celtics became the first franchise to draft an African American player, signing Chuck Cooper.
The Celtics had struggled during their early years, but the hiring of Coach Red Auerbach would change their fortunes. One of the first major players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, whom Auerbach initially refused to draft. Cousy eventually became the property of the Chicago Stags. When that franchise went bankrupt, Cousy was acquired by the Celtics in a dispersal draft. He would become a huge part of the Celtics' success and eventually became good friends with his new coach. Under Auerbach the Celtics improved dramatically, becoming a consistent threat to win in the NBA's Eastern Division in each of his first six seasons, although they fell short each time.
After the 1955–56 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade. He sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the Hawks' first round draft pick, the second overall.Official Website of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – Hall of Famers After negotiating with the Rochester Royals, Auerbach used the pick to select University of San Francisco center Bill Russell. Auerbach also acquired Holy Cross standout, and 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year, Tommy Heinsohn. Russell and Heinsohn worked extraordinarily well with Cousy, and they were the players around whom Auerbach would build the Celtics for more than a decade. Russell, who delayed joining until the middle of the 1957 season in order to play for the U.S. Olympic Team, had an immediate impact.
1957–1969: The Bill Russell era
Russell joined the Celtics in December 1956 and went on to play almost every game during which the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, giving the Celtics the first of their record 18 NBA Championships.NBA.com: Bob Pettit Bio In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, this time losing to the Hawks in 6 games. However, with the acquisition of K.C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade. In 1959, with Cousy at point guard, Russell at center and Heinsohn at forward, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers.LAKERS: Los Angeles Lakers History Still coached by Auerbach, the Celtics won seven more consecutive championships, extending their streak to eight in a row. During that timespan, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals six times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry. In 1964, Auerbach made the Celtics the first team to have an all African American starting lineup.
After the 1966 championship, Auerbach retired as coach and Russell took over as player-coach. With his appointment, Russell also became the first African American coach in any sport. Auerbach would remain the general manager, a position he would hold well into the 1980s. However, that year the Celtics' string of NBA titles was broken as they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals. The aging team managed two more championships in 1968 and 1969, defeating the Lakers each time in the NBA Finals. Russell retired after the 1969 season, effectively ending a dominant Celtics dynasty that had garnered 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons. The streak of 8 consecutive NBA championships is the longest streak of consecutive championships in U.S. professional sports history."Unbreakable" Sports Records (The World Almanac) Other important players during this era included Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Bill Sharman, Frank Ramsey, and Satch Sanders.
Despite being the dominant team of the late '50s and most of the 1960s, the Celtics were never a big draw averaging only around 8,500 fans per game. The only times they averaged 10,000 fans per game was in the 1956-57 (Bill Russell's rookie season; 10,517) and the 1966-67 (Russell's first year as player-coach; 10,409) seasons. In contrast, the Celtics fellow tenants of Boston Garden, the Boston Bruins, drew on average around 12,000 fans per game despite being a losing team for the majority of that era.
1970–1978: Rebuilding the dynasty The 1970 season was a rebuilding year, as the Celtics had their first losing record since the 1949–50 season, the year prior to Auerbach's arrival. However, with the acquisition of Dave Cowens, Paul Silas, and Jo Jo White, the Celtics soon became dominant again.Bio at BlinkBits After losing in the Eastern Conference finals in 1972, the Celtics regrouped and came out determined in 1973 and posted an excellent 68–14 regular season record. But the season ended in disappointment, as they were upset in 7 games by the New York Knicks in the Conference Finals and became the team with the best record ever to have failed to make the Finals. The Celtics returned to the playoffs the next year, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals in 1974 for their 12th NBA Championship.Bucks NBA The teams split the first four games, and after the Celtics won Game 5 in Milwaukee they headed back to Boston leading three games to two, with a chance to claim the title on their home court. However, the Bucks won Game 6 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nestled in a hook shot with three seconds left in the game's second overtime, and the series returned to Milwaukee. But Cowens was the hero in Game 7, scoring 28 points, as the Celtics brought the title back to Boston for the first time in five years. In 1976, the team won yet another championship, defeating the Phoenix Suns in 6 games. The Celtics advanced to the 1976 NBA Finals, which featured one of the greatest games in the history of the NBA. With the series tied at two games apiece, the Suns trailed early in the Boston Garden, but came back to force overtime. In double overtime, a Gar Heard turn-around jumper at the top of the key sent the game to a third overtime, at which point the Celtics prevailed. Tommy Heinsohn coached the team for those two championships. After the 1976 championship and a playoff appearance in 1977, Boston went into another phase of rebuilding.
In the 1977 NBA draft, the Celtics drafted a young forward from the UNC Charlotte named Cedric Maxwell. Maxwell did not contribute much in his rookie season, but he showed promise. Auerbach's job became even tougher following a horrible 1977–78 in which they went 32–50 as John Havlicek, the Celtics All-Time leading scorer, retired after 16 seasons.
1979–1992: The Larry Bird era
Thanks to a trade and their poor record in 1977–78, the Celtics owned two of the top eight picks in the 1978 NBA draft. Since the Celtics had two draft choices, Auerbach took a risk and selected junior Larry Bird of Indiana State with the 6th pick, knowing that Bird would elect to remain in college for his senior year. The Celtics would retain his rights for one year, a rule that was later changed, and Auerbach believed that Bird's potential would make him worth the wait. Auerbach also felt that when the college season ended the Celtics would have a great chance to sign Bird. Auerbach was right and Bird signed soon after leading Indiana State to the NCAA Championship game, where they fell to a Michigan State University team that was led by Magic Johnson.
Prior to the 1978–79 season, the Celtics changed ownership, as Irv Levin was looking to move to his native California, and entered an arrangement with John Y. Brown, Jr., who at the time was the owner of the Buffalo Braves. Brown traded ownership of the Braves for Levin's stake in the Celtics, thus allowing Brown to remain as a team owner and freeing up Levin to make the move he desired to make. Thus, Brown became the new owner of the Celtics while Levin moved the Braves to San Diego, California, where they became known as the San Diego Clippers. As part of the deal, trades were made between the Braves/Clippers franchise and the Celtics franchise which resulted in many former Braves joining the team. One of these trades led to Brown's first of many ongoing disputes with Auerbach, that where franchise center Bob McAdoo joined the Celtics for three first round draft picks that Auerbach had planned on using for the future rebuilding project he was trying to undertake. The dispute nearly led Auerbach to resign as general manager for a position with the New York Knicks. With public support strongly behind Auerbach, Brown elected to sell the team rather than face the wrath of the city for being the man who drove Red to a hated rival. During his short ownership, Brown orchestrated a trade for Bob McAdoo that Auerbach despised, and the team unraveled. The Celtics would struggle through the season, going 29–53 without Bird. Newcomers Chris Ford, Rick Robey, Cedric Maxwell and Tiny Archibald failed to reverse the team's momentum.
Bird made his NBA debut with the Boston Celtics during the 1979-80 season, one year after being selected in the draft. During this period, team executive Red Auerbach made several roster changes, including trading Bob McAdoo to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Guard M.L. Carr and two first-round picks in the 1980 NBA Draft. The Celtics also acquired Gerald Henderson from the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). Carr, Archibald, Henderson and Ford formed the team's backcourt alongside frontcourt players Dave Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, and Bird, who won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award that season. Boston improved by 32 wins from the previous year, finishing with a 61-21 record, which at the time represented the largest single-season improvement in NBA History. The Celtics were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After the season, Auerbach completed what may be the most lopsided trade in NBA history. Auerbach had been known for stockpiling draft picks, so even after the success of 1979–80 the Celtics had both the 1st and 13th picks in the 1980 NBA draft left over from the M.L. Carr trade. Auerbach saw an opportunity to improve the team immediately, sending the two picks to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for center Robert Parish and the Warriors first-round pick, the 3rd overall. With the draft pick, Auerbach selected University of Minnesota power forward Kevin McHale. The acquisitions along with Bird gave the Celtics three future Hall of Famers, forming a core that became known as the "Big Three" while leading the Celtics to three NBA championships in the 1980s.
The Celtics went 62–20 under coach Bill Fitch in 1980–81, despite losing center Dave Cowens to retirement late in training camp. Once again the Celtics matched up with the 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics fell behind 3 games to 1 before coming back to win a classic 7th game, 91–90. The Celtics went on to capture the 1981 NBA Championship over the Houston Rockets, just two years after Bird had been drafted. Maxwell was named NBA Finals MVP.