this was the first NBA franchise ever to
draft an african-american player welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
continuing our series of the most
successful sports franchises with a look
at the Boston Celtics they’re going to
give the ball to Detroit steals it
Johnson
founded in 1946 the Boston Celtics
joined the Basketball Association of
America before the creation of the
National Basketball Association or NBA
the team’s founder was Walter a brown
who was also one of the originators of
the famed Ice Capades the Celtics have
boasted some of the most memorable
personalities in basketball including
Bill Russell Bob Cousy John Havlicek
Larry Bird Red Auerbach and Paul Pierce
Pierce goes behind the back great move
by Paul Pierce
the nine-time all-star attacking the rim
the team’s early days were full of
struggles but that changed when Auerbach
was brought on his coach in 1950 with
Boston Auerbach was given full control
of the team our backs genius knew no
boundaries and he demonstrated this at
the 1956 Draft Auerbach managed to pull
off an unusual trade he convinced
Rochester to let coveted University of
San Francisco Center Bill Russell slide
to number two in exchange for
performance by the sought-after Ice
Capades in their hometown in turn our
back and the Celtics drafted Russell and
he became the cornerstone of the most
dominating franchise ever they won 11
championships in 13 years from 1957 to
1969 this included a whopping 8 in a row
from 59 to 66 and this is the longest
consecutive championship streak of any
North American pro sports team the 1970s
were relatively uneventful with the team
only winning two championships under
coach Tommy Heinsohn towards the end of
the decade the Celtics drafted junior
Larry Bird of Indiana State with the
sixth pick in the 1978 draft after
staying an extra year in college Byrd
debuted for Boston during the 1979-80
season and served as a core for the team
to build around what we’ve been made
who else but Larry Bird the Celtics
ended up trading to draft choices to the
Golden State Warriors in exchange for
Center Robert Parish as well as their
first-round pick that first rounder
ended up being the third pick overall
and with that the Celtics drafted
University of Minnesota power forward
Kevin McHale these three superstar
players were known as the big three and
they led the Celtics to win the
championship in 1981 1984 and 1986 that
marked the 16th title in franchise
history and an NBA record in 1985 the
Celtics met arch rivals the Los Angeles
Lakers in the NBA Finals while the
Celtics had previously dominated the
Lakers in the postseason
this time LA took it this was the first
time the Lakers defeated the Celtics for
a championship and the only time the
Celtics lost a championship at Boston
Garden eventually the big three retired
Auerbach as general manager secured the
second overall choice in the 1986 draft
and picked up Maryland’s Len Bias
in the hope of keeping the franchise
strong tragically bias died just two
days later due to a drug overdose
another promising player was taken from
the team in his prime when Reggie Lewis
died of a heart attack in 1993 these
incidents foreshadowed the challenges
the team faced over the next decade
however by 1998 the franchise returned
to prominence and dominance they drafted
Paul Pierce with the 10th overall pick
and traded for a list of marquee players
their supremacy culminated with the
franchise’s record 17th championship in
the 2007-2008 season led by the new big
3 Pierce Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen the
Boston Celtics role in history isn’t
limited to their dominance on the court
when they signed Chuck Cooper in 1950
Boston became the first franchise to
draft an african-american player then in
1964 the Celtics boasted the first squad
to have an all african-american starting
lineup finally after the 1965-66 season
when Auerbach retired his coach Bill
Russell took over and became the first
black coach in the NBA
today the Celtics have relocated from
the venerable Boston Garden and play
their home games at the TD Garden their
legacy is a dominant one and the Boston
Celtics have cemented their place in the
history books as one of the winningest
sports franchises of all time here’s
Pierce by Paul Pierce
draft an african-american player welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
continuing our series of the most
successful sports franchises with a look
at the Boston Celtics they’re going to
give the ball to Detroit steals it
Johnson
founded in 1946 the Boston Celtics
joined the Basketball Association of
America before the creation of the
National Basketball Association or NBA
the team’s founder was Walter a brown
who was also one of the originators of
the famed Ice Capades the Celtics have
boasted some of the most memorable
personalities in basketball including
Bill Russell Bob Cousy John Havlicek
Larry Bird Red Auerbach and Paul Pierce
Pierce goes behind the back great move
by Paul Pierce
the nine-time all-star attacking the rim
the team’s early days were full of
struggles but that changed when Auerbach
was brought on his coach in 1950 with
Boston Auerbach was given full control
of the team our backs genius knew no
boundaries and he demonstrated this at
the 1956 Draft Auerbach managed to pull
off an unusual trade he convinced
Rochester to let coveted University of
San Francisco Center Bill Russell slide
to number two in exchange for
performance by the sought-after Ice
Capades in their hometown in turn our
back and the Celtics drafted Russell and
he became the cornerstone of the most
dominating franchise ever they won 11
championships in 13 years from 1957 to
1969 this included a whopping 8 in a row
from 59 to 66 and this is the longest
consecutive championship streak of any
North American pro sports team the 1970s
were relatively uneventful with the team
only winning two championships under
coach Tommy Heinsohn towards the end of
the decade the Celtics drafted junior
Larry Bird of Indiana State with the
sixth pick in the 1978 draft after
staying an extra year in college Byrd
debuted for Boston during the 1979-80
season and served as a core for the team
to build around what we’ve been made
who else but Larry Bird the Celtics
ended up trading to draft choices to the
Golden State Warriors in exchange for
Center Robert Parish as well as their
first-round pick that first rounder
ended up being the third pick overall
and with that the Celtics drafted
University of Minnesota power forward
Kevin McHale these three superstar
players were known as the big three and
they led the Celtics to win the
championship in 1981 1984 and 1986 that
marked the 16th title in franchise
history and an NBA record in 1985 the
Celtics met arch rivals the Los Angeles
Lakers in the NBA Finals while the
Celtics had previously dominated the
Lakers in the postseason
this time LA took it this was the first
time the Lakers defeated the Celtics for
a championship and the only time the
Celtics lost a championship at Boston
Garden eventually the big three retired
Auerbach as general manager secured the
second overall choice in the 1986 draft
and picked up Maryland’s Len Bias
in the hope of keeping the franchise
strong tragically bias died just two
days later due to a drug overdose
another promising player was taken from
the team in his prime when Reggie Lewis
died of a heart attack in 1993 these
incidents foreshadowed the challenges
the team faced over the next decade
however by 1998 the franchise returned
to prominence and dominance they drafted
Paul Pierce with the 10th overall pick
and traded for a list of marquee players
their supremacy culminated with the
franchise’s record 17th championship in
the 2007-2008 season led by the new big
3 Pierce Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen the
Boston Celtics role in history isn’t
limited to their dominance on the court
when they signed Chuck Cooper in 1950
Boston became the first franchise to
draft an african-american player then in
1964 the Celtics boasted the first squad
to have an all african-american starting
lineup finally after the 1965-66 season
when Auerbach retired his coach Bill
Russell took over and became the first
black coach in the NBA
today the Celtics have relocated from
the venerable Boston Garden and play
their home games at the TD Garden their
legacy is a dominant one and the Boston
Celtics have cemented their place in the
history books as one of the winningest
sports franchises of all time here’s
Pierce by Paul Pierce
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