Boston Celtics Profile

Boston Celtics Profile

Home Town: Boston, MA
Owner: Wyc Grousbeck
General Manager: Danny Ainge
Coach: Glenn "Doc" Rivers

Home Court

Name:TD Banknorth Garden
Opened: 1995
Seating Capacity: 18,624

Team History

The Celtics were founded in 1946 as a member of the Basketball Association of America, and became part of the NBA when the BAA and National Basketball League merged in 1949. In 1950, the Celtics became the first NBA team to draft an African-American player, Chuck Cooper. That same year, the Celtics hired the man who would serve as architect for their first sixteen championships: Arnold Auerbach -- better known as "Red." Auerbach's methods for building the the Celtics' dynasty were unconventional -- he traded away all-star Cliff Hagan for the rights to draft Bill Russell, and got Bob Cousy in a dispersal draft when the Chicago Stags went out of business. Those two, along with Tommy Heinsohn -- would become the core of the team that dominated the NBA throughout the late fifties and sixties, winning thirteen championships overall.
Auerbach left the bench after the 1966 season, staying on as general manager and turning over the coach's clipboard to Russell, who became the first African-American coach in the NBA. He led the team to two more championships as player/coach in 1968 and 1969, before retiring.
Russell's retirement effectively ended the dynasty, but the franchise was quick to rebuild. In 1972, a team built around Dave Cowens, Paul Silas and Jo Jo White would reach the Eastern Conference Finals, and win NBA titles in 1974 and 1976.
In 1978, Auerbach laid the groundwork for the next great Celtics team by selecting Indiana State's Larry Bird under the NBA draft's "junior eligible" rule. This was a calculated risk... under the junior eligible rule, Auerbach had one year to sign Bird -- otherwise, Larry the Legend would have been available in the 1979 draft. But sign he did, and Bird was an immediate success, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1980. After that season, Auerbach pulled off what would turn out to be one of the most lopsided deals in NBA history, trading the first and thirteenth picks in the draft to the Warriors in exchange for center Robert Parrish and the third overall pick -- which Auerbach used to select Kevin McHale. The Bird/Parrish/McHale nucleus went on to win three more NBA titles in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
The team hoped to supplement that aging nucleus with fresh talent, and had the second-overall pick in the NBA Draft. But tragedy struck just two days after the Celtics selected University of Maryland star Len Bias -- Bias died of a cardiac arrhythmia brought on by cocaine use. Bias' sudden passing became a metaphor for a series of events that ended the Celtics' run of excellence. Bird and McHale broke down due to a variety of nagging injuries. Another young star, Reggie Lewis, had a heart attack and died in 1993.
In 1997, hoping for a fresh start, the Celtics installed then-University of Kentucky coach Rick Pitino as the team's president and coach. Pitino's run was nothing short of disastrous, characterized by impatience with young players, questionable drafts, and a lot of losses. Pitino deserves credit for drafting both Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce, but Billups was traded long before he'd develop into one of the NBA's top point guards. Pitino resigned in 2001, with assistant Jim O'Brien taking over.
In 2003 came the first of the changes that would eventually lead the Celtics back to the top of the NBA. Owner Paul Gaston sold the team to a consortium headed by Wycliffe "Wyc" Grousbeck. The new ownership made ex-Celtic guard Danny Ainge the new general manager, and in 2004 Ainge installed Glenn "Doc" Rivers as head coach. Ainge then made the deals to bring in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to team with Pierce and create the "Big Three" that won the NBA championship in 2008.
The Celtics' hopes for a repeat were derailed when Garnett was injured and played only 57 games in 2008-09. But KG is expected back for the 2009-10 season, and teamed with Allen, Pierce, the improving Rajon Rondo and newly-acquired Rasheed Wallace, the Celtics should be one of the favorites to win yet another title.
Championships: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008
Conference Titles: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2008
Division Titles: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2008, 2009

Retired Numbers

• 00: Robert Parrish
• 1: Walter Brown (The Celtics' founder/first owner)
• 2: Red Auerbach (The second-most significant person in franchise history, after Brown)
• 3: Dennis Johnson
• 6: Bill Russell
• 10: Jo Jo White
• 14: Bob Cousy
• 15: Tom Heinsohn
• 16: Tom "Satch" Sanders
• 17: John Havlicek
• 18: Dave Cowens
• 19: Don Nelson
• 22: Ed Macauley
• 23: Frank Ramsey
• 24: Sam Jones
• 25: K.C. Jones
• 31: Cedric Maxwell
• 32: Kevin McHale
• 33: Larry Bird
• 35: Reggie Lewis
• LOSCY: Jim Loscutoff (A standout on the Celtics' first title team, Loscutoff asked the team not to retire his number so it could be worn by a future Celtic. His number - 18 - was later retired for Dave Cowens.)

Hall of Famers

• Nate "Tiny" Archibald
• Arnold "Red" Auerbach (Coach)
• Larry Bird
• Walter A. Brown (Contributor/Owner)
• Bob Cousy
• Dave Cowens
• Wayne Embry (Contributor; first African-American to serve both as a general manager and team president in the NBA)
• John Havlicek
• Tom Heinsohn
• Bailey Howell
• Dave Jones (Contributor)
• K. C. Jones
• Sam Jones
• Clyde Lovellette
• Ed Macauley
• Pete Maravich
• Bob McAdoo
• Kevin McHale
• Robert Parish
• Andy Phillip
• Frank Ramsey
• Arnie Risen
• Bill Russell
• Bill Sharman (Player and Coach)
• John Thompson (Coach - Georgetown University)
• Bill Walton
• Dominique Wilkins

Head Coaches

Neil Cohalan (1946-47)
Honey Russell (1947-48)
Doggie Julian (1948-50)
Red Auerbach (1950-1966)
Bill Russell (1966-69)
Tom Heinsohn (1969-1978)
Tom Sanders (1978)
Dave Cowens (1978-79)
Bill Fitch (1979-83)
K.C. Jones (1983-88)
Jim Rodgers (1988-90)
Chris Ford (1990-1995)
M.L. Carr (1995-97)
Rick Pitino (1997-2001)
Jim O'Brien (2001-2004)
John Carroll (2004)
Doc Rivers (2004-present)

Posted in: Boston Celtics