The Boston Celtics ooze basketball aura. With a file 17 championships (tied with the rival Los Angeles Lakers), the C’s typically affiliate themselves with success greater than some other workforce within the affiliation. With so many banners hanging from the Boston Backyard rafters, the gamers who hung the laundry deserve the entire recognition. It’s time to shine a lightweight on the 22 finest gamers in Boston Celtics historical past!
1. Larry Chicken
With the toughness of a benchwarmer and the clutch gene of an murderer, Larry Chicken’s skillset has by no means been seen earlier than or since. He’s the final participant to win three MVPs in a row, and with the rise in perimeter play, Chicken could be even higher immediately.
2. Invoice Russell
Invoice Russell famously led the Celtics to a file 11 championships in 13 seasons, however there’s infrequently context given to his accomplishments. Russell revolutionized the aim of protection in basketball, and he was able to upping his scoring when wanted. He scored 30 factors with 40 rebounds in Recreation 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals.
3. John Havlicek
John Havlicek waited his flip behind Invoice Russell within the Nineteen Sixties, complimenting the Celtics’ dynastic gamers till he took over within the Seventies. Hondo constructed a path for future small forwards like Larry Chicken, Scottie Pippen, and LeBron James with all-around play on each ends of the court docket.
4. Bob Cousy
Bob Cousy typically will get introduced up in jest by youthful followers with spotlight clips of him dribbling round defenders or throwing a behind-the-back cross. Certain, Cousy could look primitive by immediately’s requirements, however level guards owe lots to the Houdini of the Hardwood. He orchestrated the Celtics offense to perfection all through the Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties.
5. Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce outlined what an automated bucket was for the Celtics for 15 years. From the mid-range and the perimeter, Pierce leveraged his bulk and sharpshooting functionality to attain over 24,000 factors, second all-time in franchise historical past. He stays the final Celtics participant to win NBA Finals MVP.
6. Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett spent most of his profession with the Minnesota Timberwolves, however his impression on the Celtics could also be even larger. He injected life right into a workforce that hadn’t received a title in over 20 years, successful Defensive Participant of the Yr in 2008 and re-establishing Boston because the elite franchise within the league.
7. Dave Cowens
Dave Cowens’ prime with the Celtics lasted solely 10 years, however the mixture of him and John Havlicek bridged the hole between the Russell and Chicken eras of Boston basketball. Cowens did a bit of little bit of every little thing for the C’s, together with main them in factors, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals in 1977-1978.
8. Kevin McHale
Each time a defender thought they’d prevented a Kevin McHale bucket, the facility ahead with a galaxy of strikes pulled one other one out of his black gap. As soon as the ball entered McHale’s workplace within the paint, it wasn’t popping out till a make or a miss, extra typically the previous. McHale’s gangly arms and suppleness lent him a skillset that stood out, even in comparison with teammate Larry Chicken.
9. Robert Parish
The participant who accomplished the Celtics Huge Three within the Eighties, Robert Parish arrived to work in blue-collar vogue. Followers anticipated wonderful protection to accompany 15 factors and 10 rebounds each night time, and the Chief by no means backed down from rivals akin to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Invoice Laimbeer.
10. Sam Jones
Sam Jones mastered the midrange pull-up and the financial institution shot within the Nineteen Sixties. Whereas Invoice Russell and Bob Cousy are talked about first in Celtics lore, Jones received the second-most titles in NBA historical past with 10 championships. At 6’4’’, Jones helped construct the thought of what a capturing guard would appear to be all through NBA historical past.
11. Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum will stand up this record dramatically if he wins an NBA title. Boston is all about championships, and Tatum has been tasked with returning the workforce to the hierarchy of the league after a 15 12 months drought. Because it stands, the 25-year-old star scores at each degree and presents a matchup nightmare for his defender nightly.
12. Dennis Johnson
Dennis Johnson’s defensive magic on the perimeter made the Celtics virtually unfair within the mid-Eighties. Johnson additionally on the opposite finish of Larry Chicken’s game-winning steal within the 1987 Japanese Convention Finals. Chicken known as DJ the best participant he ever shared the court docket with, though this may need been a dig at Kevin McHale’s work ethic.
13. Nate Archibald
Nate Archibald compiled gaudy statistical feats earlier than he bought to Boston, however he optimized his sport for the great of championship play within the early Eighties. Archibald helped ease Larry Chicken alongside in his early years when Chicken sometimes faltered, akin to within the 1981 NBA Finals.
14. Ray Allen
Ray Allen accomplished the Celtics’ championship puzzle in 2008, even turning into the principle think about convincing Kevin Garnett to come back to Boston after he was traded from the Seattle SuperSonics. Allen broke Reggie Miller’s three-point file in Celtic inexperienced.
15. Tom Heinsohn
Tom Heinsohn served as an enforcer and Invoice Russell’s predominant frontcourt associate throughout the bulk of the Crimson Auerbach dynasty within the Nineteen Sixties. Heinsohn stayed concerned within the Celtics franchise with teaching and media gigs up till his dying in 2020.
16. Jo Jo White
Jo Jo White will get forgotten within the midst of Celtics stars, however this dynamic level guard averaged shut to twenty factors per sport most years within the Seventies. He carried on the custom of Celtic excellence within the backcourt, grabbing the stick from Bob Cousy and Sam Jones.
17. Jaylen Brown
Even when he can’t dribble together with his left hand, Jaylen Brown’s constant play alongside Jayson Tatum has lodged the Celtics firmly into the highest of the NBA’s contenders for half a decade within the 2020s. Brown grew to become the highest-paid participant in Celtics historical past in the summertime of 2023.
18. Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo began his profession as a bystander subsequent to Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, and he ended it as their bonafide chief and finest participant. Rondo conjured passes that different level guards couldn’t, and his robust demeanor influenced the workforce’s id.
19. Invoice Sharman
Invoice Sharman grew to become one of many NBA’s first sharpshooters within the Nineteen Fifties. With Bob Cousy delivering pinpoint passes, Sharman benefited enormously from his level guard and sometimes held discipline aim percentages within the mid-40s, an unimaginable quantity on the time.
20. Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving’s Celtics profession by no means lived as much as the hype, however Irving’s ball-handling and capturing make him among the finest level guards ever to play for the workforce. Irving’s clutch shot-making and aptitude elevated Boston again into prominence on the onset of Jayson Tatum’s profession, and the duo might have been legendary if Irving had stayed.
21. Invoice Walton
Invoice Walton’s future of being among the finest facilities ever bought derailed by power foot accidents, however his low-key persona allowed him to nestle proper in with Larry Chicken and firm for the 1986 championship. Walton’s intelligence was the important thing to the bench unit and made the workforce among the finest single-year rosters in basketball historical past.
22. Reggie Lewis
Reggie Lewis solely performed for the Celtics for six years earlier than his tragic dying in 1993, however he made an incredible impression on the group and the workforce. Lewis averaged 28 factors per sport within the 1992 NBA Playoffs, an indication of what might have been. Lewis grew to become the second star to cross away whereas on the Celtics throughout this time interval, with Len Bias being the primary in 1986.
