NBA basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves photo by William Lovelady – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Facts about the Boston Celtics


 

NBA clubs compete practically daily, and even though you may be well knowledgeable about the players of the present or past, you may be unaware of all these details regarding your favourite team. Boston, Massachusetts is home to the Boston Celtics, an American basketball club that plays professionally. They compete in the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.

The Boston Celtics are a popular basketball team that has garnered many fans. Whether you love them or despise them, the Boston Celtics have a distinguished basketball legacy. Let’s take a look at some fascinating facts regarding Boston’s team in green as they strive for a successful 2022–2023 campaign.

1. The club was founded in 1946

The 1956-57 Boston Celtics that won the first championship for the franchise photo sourced from Wikimedia commons

As one of the first eight teams in the Basketball Association of America, the Boston Celtics was established on June 6, 1946, by Boston Garden-Arena Corporation president Walter A. Brown. The group qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 1948, but they were defeated by the Chicago Stags 4-1.

Due to finishing fifth in the Eastern Division in 1949, the squad was unable to advance to the playoffs. The club then joined the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, following the merger of the BAA and NBA.

2. Boston Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden

Celtics introductions at Boston’s TD Garden photo by Marc Choquette – Wikimedia commons

The TD Garden is the fourth arena for the Celtics. Before the Garden, they played in the Boston Arena, Boston Garden and the Hartford Civic Center. The TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is called after its sponsor, TD Bank, a Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario division. It replaced the previous Boston Garden when it first opened in 1995 and has also gone by the names FleetCenter and TD Banknorth Garden.

The arena is situated just above North Station on the MBTA. Nearly 3.5 million people attend the arena annually, making it the most popular sports and entertainment venue in New England. The TD Garden serves as the home arena for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association.

3. Boston Celtics have never left the city where they were originally founded

The Celtics are one of just two NBA teams, along with the New York Knicks, that have never left the city where they were founded. The Celtics played at Boston Arena from 1946 to 1955 before moving to the iconic Boston Garden from 1955 to 1995. The TD Garden was built in 1995 to replace the Boston Garden, and it is now home to the Celtics and Bruins.

4. Celtic’s mascot is called Lucky

The Celtics’ mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun, was chosen in honour of the city’s substantial Irish population. Lucky has been the Celtics’ mascot for more than 50 years. The Celtics are called after Boston’s Irish ancestors. Lucky has been a part of the team logo and supporter apparel from the beginning of the company.

Fans who have attended Celtics games have also seen Lucky on the court, where he frequently does acrobatic stunts and slam dunk routines to get the crowd going. The Celtics’ first logo was a white shamrock on a green backdrop. The leprechaun eventually took its place. The backdrop of their emblem, as well as the appearance of the leprechaun, have been altered multiple times. However, the main colours of the team – green and white – were used in all versions.

5. The Celtics are among the most successful NBA franchises in history

Paul Pierce holds up his NBA Championship MVP Trophy photo by Paul Keleher – Wikimedia commons

The Boston Celtics were one of the league’s first eight clubs, created in 1946. Since then, they have won 17 championships, making them one of the most successful teams in NBA history, along with the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston won their first championship in 1957. Starting in 1959, the Celtics won 8 consecutive championships.

With the addition of famous centre Bill Russell in the late 1950s, the Celtics soared to supremacy. The Celtics, along with several other future Hall of Famers, would go on to win eight straight NBA titles all of them throughout the 1960s. The Celtics now have the most documented victories of any NBA club. 

6. It was the first NBA franchise to draft a black player

The 1953–54 Boston Celtics basketball team practising the pick and roll. From left to rightː Bob Donham, Ed Mikan, Bill Sharman and Chuck Cooper photo by Hult Studio – Wikimedia commons

The Celtics signed Chuck Cooper in 1950, making them the first NBA team to pick a black player. Charles Henry Cooper was a professional basketball player from the United States. In 1950, he and two others, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton and Earl Lloyd were the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) first, African-American players.

Cooper was also the first African-American to be picked by an NBA franchise when the Boston Celtics selected him first in the second round. On September 9, 2019, Cooper was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

7. Boston Celtics and LA Lakers have a rivalry spanning 63 years

Wilt Chamberlain (#13) playing for Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA finals v Boston Celtics photo sourced from Wikimedia commons

The legendary rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers must be brought up while talking about the history of the team. In 1959, the first NBA Finals matchup between the two clubs took place. They have subsequently competed against one another in 12 finals. Throughout the 1960s and 1980s, their rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers received a lot of attention.

Larry Bird of the Celtics and Magic Johnson of the Lakers engaged in a constant rivalry during the two teams’ numerous encounters in the 1980s. In the NBA Finals, the team has faced the Lakers a franchise-record 12 times (including recent trips in 2008 and 2010), with the Celtics taking nine of those games.

8. They have the longest consecutive championship-winning streak of any North American professional sports team

The Celtics have seventeen NBA Championships, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most of any NBA franchise, and their dominance of the NBA Championship from 1959 to 1966, with eight straight titles, is the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any North American professional sports team to date. Following that, the Celtics experienced two significant eras of success, separated by a string of disappointing seasons while rebuilding.

9. Celtics Bill Russell holds the record for the most NBA championships won

Former Boston Celtics player, Bill Russell, during his first years with the franchise. Colour edition and photo by user Sportingn – Wikimedia commons

With 11 championships won over his 13-year playing career, Boston Celtics centre Bill Russell holds the record for the most NBA championships won. In his debut season, he won his first championship with the Boston Celtics. Following that, he won 10 championships in the next 12 years, including eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966. As a player coach, he won the final two titles in 1968 and 1969. Sam Jones, Russell’s teammate, won 10 titles from 1959 through 1969, the second most in the history of the NBA.

10. Boston Celtics have been home to legendary players since their inception

Kevin Garnett, American basketball player for the Boston Celtics photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia commons

Since its inception, the Celtics have been home to some of the most legendary basketball players to ever grace the court. Bill Russell, together with a brilliant supporting cast of future Hall of Famers including John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders, and Bill Sharman, would lead the Celtics into their finest era, winning eight consecutive NBA titles from 1959 to 1966.

In the 1980s, the Celtics reclaimed their supremacy by wreaking havoc across the NBA. The Celtics won championships in 1981, 1984, and 1986, led by the “Big Three” of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. The Celtics once more saw success in the 2000s when they put together a new “Big Three” consisting of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. The squad, which is currently led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, made it back to the Conference Finals in 2018 and 2020 and made it to the NBA Finals in 2022 during first-year head coach Ime Udoka’s tenure.