Boston Celtics: Ranking the Best Players by Position in Team History
By Phil Watson
The Boston Celtics are one of just three teams remaining from the founding of the Basketball Association of America, along with the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors, who began in Philadelphia.
The Celtics are the most successful franchise in NBA history with 17 championships in 67 seasons, including a run of eight straight titles from 1959-66 that is unprecedented in North American professional sports.
It wasn’t always so good in Boston, though. The Celtics had losing records in each of their first four seasons. Everything changed in 1950. Red Auerbach had resigned after less than a year as coach of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks after their owner, Ben Kerner, traded away a player Auerbach wanted to keep. Auerbach had arrived in Tri-Cities after three years coaching the Washington Capitols in the fledgling BAA, taking the team to the Finals in the league’s first year.
The Celtics brought in Auerbach to coach and then landed point guard Bob Cousy out of Holy Cross, who had been drafted by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, sold to the Chicago Stags, but selected by the Celtics in a dispersal draft after the Stags folded.
The Celtics were 39-30 in Auerbach’s first year and made the playoffs in each of the next six seasons, but never could get past the division finals.
Amazingly, the most important moment in the franchise’s history happened because of the Ice Capades … yes, the Ice Capades. In 1956, Auerbach traded All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan and received the No. 2 overall pick in the draft that day. Auerbach then made a deal with the Rochester Royals, promising that Celtics owner Walter Brown would send the Ice Capades to Rochester in return for the Royals staying away from one player with the No. 1 overall pick.
And that, folks, is how Bill Russell landed in Boston.
The Celtics went on to win the title in 1956-57, lost in the NBA Finals to the Hawks in 1958 and then went on their eight-year tear of titles. Boston also won championships in 1968 and 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986 and 2008.
In all, the Celtics have been a playoff team in 51 of their 67 seasons, with their longest run of futility coming from 1995-96 through 2000-01, a string of six straight years out of the postseason. Conversely, Boston made the playoffs for 19 straight seasons, 1950-51 through 1968-69. The franchise’s best regular-season came in 1972-73, when the Celtics were 68-14 but were upset by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Their worst season came in 1996-97 when Boston was 15-67.
So who are the best players by position in the history of the Boston Celtics?
NOTE: Players must have appeared in 250 regular-season games with the franchise to be considered for this list.
Small Forward: Larry Bird (1979-92)
Larry Bird’s arrival in 1979 turned around the Boston Celtics. The three-time MVP helped Boston to three titles. (Photo by Steve Lipofsky/
)
Red Auerbach, by then the man running the Celtics’ front office, took a chance with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 draft when he selected Indiana State junior Larry Bird. At the time, NBA rules allowed a team to draft an underclassman and hold his rights until the following year’s draft. Auerbach was able to get Bird signed just before the deadline. Shortly thereafter, the rule was changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they declared their intentions to go pro.
In any event, Auerbach’s keen sense for talent didn’t fail him. Bird was a three-time Most Valuable Player, was named MVP of the NBA Finals twice and was the Rookie of the Year in 1979-80—beating out another pretty good rookie that year in Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird played for three title teams in Boston, was a 12-time All-Star, was named to 10 All-NBA teams (including nine first-team appearances) and was a three-time All-Defensive team selection. Bird led the NBA in 3-pointers twice (1985-86 and 1986-87), was a four-time free-throw percentage leader and twice led the Association in minutes per game and player efficiency rating (PER).
In 13 seasons in Boston, Bird averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, 37.6 percent from 3 and 88.6 percent from the line.
Bird is the third-leading scorer in franchise history with 21,791 points and is also second with 1,556 steals, third with 5,695 assists and 755 blocked shots, fourth with 649 3-pointers and 8,974 rebounds and eighth with 897 games. However, his 24.3 points per game is the best in team history and he is also second with 1.7 steals per game, third with 88.6 percent free-throw accuracy, fourth with 10 rebounds per game, fifth with 38.4 minutes per game and seventh with 6.3 assists per game. In the advanced metrics, Bird’s 23.5 PER is the best in franchise history.
Bird holds single-season Celtic records with 29.9 points per game and a 27.8 PER in 1987-88.
Here are some of Bird’s highlights:
Bird retired due to back problems after the 1991-92 season. He went on to coach the Indiana Pacers for three seasons. Bird was NBA Coach of the Year in 1997-98 and led Indiana to the 2000 NBA Finals. From 2003-12 was in charge of the front office for the Pacers. He was named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2011-12. He returned to his post on June 27 after a year away. Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Apologies to: Paul Pierce, John Havlicek, Cedric Maxwell, Don Nelson.
Kevin Garnett came to Boston from the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007 and led the Celtics to their first NBA championship in 22 years. (Flickr.com/Keith Allison)
Power Forward: Kevin Garnett (2007-13)
Kevin Garnett came to Boston in July 2007 as part of a mega-deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who sent their franchise’s best player to the Celtics for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and two 2009 first-round picks.
Garnett responded by leading Boston to its first title in 22 years in 2007-08. He was the Defensive Player of the Year that season and was a five-time All-Star with the Celtics, was named All-NBA in 2007-08 and was a four-time All-Defensive Team selection. Twice with Boston, Garnett posted the best defensive rating in the NBA, turning the trick in 2007-08 and 2011-12.
In six years as a Celtics, Garnett averaged 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor.
He is eighth on the team’s all-time list with 394 blocked shots. His 52.0 percent field-goal shooting is eighth in franchise history and his one block per game average is ninth. He is also third with a 21.1 PER.
His .265 win shares per 48 minutes in 2007-08 is a franchise single-season record.
Here is a tribute video to Garnett:
On July 12, Garnett was traded with Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and D.J. White to the Brooklyn Nets for Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace and first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, with the Celtics also having the option to trade first-round picks with the Nets in 2017.
Apologies to: Kevin McHale, Bailey Howell, Tom Heinsohn, Antoine Walker.
Bill Russell (6) might not have become a Boston Celtic if Red Auerbach didn’t make a deal with the Rochester Royals to send the Ice Capades their way. (Flickr.com/Kip-koech)
Center: Bill Russell (1956-69)
The Celtics traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to Bill Russell out of the University of San Francisco in 1956. Thus began the greatest era of dominance in North American professional sports history, with eight consecutive titles from 1959-66 and 11 championships in his 13 seasons.
Russell was a five-time Most Valuable Player and, though he never won the award, the NBA Finals MVP award now bears his name. He was a 12-time All-Star and an 11-time All-NBA selection, with three of those being to the first team. He was also named to the NBA’s first All-Defensive team in 1968-69. Russell led the NBA in total rebounds four times, in minutes twice, in rebounds per game five seasons and once in minutes per game. He also led the league 10 times in defensive win shares and is the NBA’s career leader in the category at 133.6.
In 13 seasons, Russell averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and one is left to only imagine how many blocked shots he would have been credited with had it been an official statistic at the time he played.
Russell is the Celtics’ all-time leader with 21,620 rebounds and is fifth with 4,100 assists and eighth with 14,522 points. He is also the team’s career leader with 42.3 minutes per game and 22.5 rebounds per game.
He holds single-season team records with 1,930 rebounds, 24.7 rebounds per game, 16 defensive win shares and 17 total win shares in 1963-64.
Here are some highlights from Russell’s career:
Russell served as player-coach of the Celtics for the final three years of his career, from 1966-67 through 1968-69, winning two championships. He later coached the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings, serving as general manager for both franchises, as well. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.
Apologies to: Ed Macauley, Robert Parish, Dave Cowens, Tony Battie.
Sam Jones (24) became known as “The Shooter” and was a part of 10 championship teams in Boston. (Flickr.com photo by redsox20041027)
Shooting Guard: Sam Jones (1957-69)
Sam Jones joined the Celtics as the eighth overall pick in the 1957 NBA Draft out of North Carolina Central, then known as North Carolina College at Durham, and Jones pulled off the rare feat of scoring at the same rate—17.7 points per game—at a small school in North Carolina as he did during a 12-year NBA career.
Jones was a five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA pick who was a member of 10 championship teams in Boston.
He averaged 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in 12 seasons with the Celtics.
His 15,411 points rank seventh in team history and he is 10th with 871 games.
Here is a biography of Jones:
After retiring from the NBA after the 1968-69 season, Jones became athletic director and coach at Federal City College—later the University of the District of Columbia) and later coached at North Carolina Central and as an assistant for the New Orleans Jazz. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.
Apologies to: Bill Sharman, Reggie Lewis, Ray Allen, Danny Ainge.
Red Auerbach didn’t originally want Bob Cousy (foreground), saying he was too “flashy.” But given a second chance to get him after the Chicago Stags folded in 1950, Cousy went on to become the NBA’s first superstar point guard. (New York World Telegram & Sun photo by Wm. C. Greene/Wikimedia Commons)
Point guard: Bob Cousy (1950-63)
The Celtics passed on Holy Cross star Bob Cousy in the 1950 NBA Draft, with Red Auerbach claiming Cousy was too “flashy” for one of his teams. It was one of the few personnel mistakes Auerbach ever made, but he got the opportunity to correct it. Cousy was taken third overall by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, who sold his rights to the Chicago Stags, who folded. The Celtics took Cousy in the October dispersal draft and he went on to become the first great point guard in NBA history.
Cousy was Most Valuable Player of the NBA in 1956-57, was a 13-time All-Star and was named All-NBA 12 times, including 10 nods on the first team. He led the NBA in total assists and assists per game for eight straight seasons, 1952-53 through 1959-60, and was the veteran leader for a team that won titles in six of his final seven seasons.
Cousy averaged 18.5 points, 7.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game in 13 seasons with the Celtics.
Cousy is the Celtics’ all-time assists leader with 6,945 and is sixth with 16,955 points and 917 games. His 7.6 assists per game is second in franchise history and His 18.5 points per game is seventh.
Here are some of Cousy’s highlights:
After retiring following the 1962-63 season, Cousy became coach at Boston College, going 117-38 in six seasons, before leaving to become coach of the Cincinnati Royals. He even attempted a brief comeback as a player at age 41, with the Celtics agreeing to trade his rights to the Royals for Bill Dinwiddle. It lasted seven games and 34 minutes and he resigned early in the 1973-74 season, after the team had moved to become the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. He was later commissioner of the American Soccer League from 1974-79, served as a color analyst for Celtics’ telecasts and had a memorable role in the 1993 film “Blue Chips,” in which he played the athletic director at fictional Western University.
Apologies to: Rajon Rondo, Dee Brown, Sherman Douglas, Jo Jo White.