The Boston Celtics dominated the 1960s, winning nine titles in 10 seasons, including seven in a row from 1960 to 1966, an almost perfect decade that has never been replicated in major North American professional sports. The only year in the 1960s that Boston didn’t win a title was 1967, the season the Celtics lost to eventual champion Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtic dynasty experienced two major inflection points: In 1950, owner Walter Brown hired 33-year-old Arnold “Red” Auerbach as head coach and general manager. April 29, 1956. Auerbach traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for their first draft pick, Bill Russell, the 6-foot-10 center from the University of San Francisco.
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The move quickly paid off as Boston won the 1956-57 NBA Championship, beating the Hawks, 125-123, in Game 7 in double overtime in which Russell had 19 points and 32 rebounds. After failing in the 1957-58 Finals when Russell was injured, the Celtics won the next eight championships from the 1958-59 to 1965-66 seasons.
The NBA had 10 or fewer franchises during the Celtics’ championship race. But other than the six Chicago Bulls titles in the 1990s in a much bigger league, no other NBA franchise has come close to the Celtics’ success of the 1960s. Here are the seven Hall of Fame members who were most responsible of the dynasty:
1. Coach: Rouge Auerbach
The Celtics have taken off after the acquisition of Bill Russell (left) by Red Auerbach.
Jack O’Connell / The Boston Globe / Getty Images
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 1968
As Celtics head coach (1950-1966), general manager (1950-1984) and executive (1984-2006), he has competed in 16 NBA titles. Auerbach was the most successful coach in the NBA when he retired in 1966 with a 938-479 record.
Auerbach was famous for his affinity for cigars, often lighting victory smoke on the bench when the Celtics had a game in hand. But he was more than a showman. Auerbach brought the counterattack offense to professional basketball using Russell’s generational rebounding talent and Bob Cousy’s incredible ball handling and playing skills. He also created the role of sixth man by bringing one of his best players, John Havlicek, off the bench to attack tired starting opponents or a less talented second unit.
In 1950, Auerbach recruited the league’s first African-American player, Chuck Cooper from Duquesne. He was the first coach to train five black players and hired Russell as the NBA’s first black head coach.
“He was the best coach in the history of professional sport. Period,” said Russell.
2. Center: Bill Russell
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 1975
If Auerbach was the architect, Russell – a five-time MVP who led the league by bouncing five times – was the foundation on which the Celtic dynasty was built. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, winning 11 titles and averaging 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
The NBA did not award a finals MVP during his career. But it’s telling that the league named their trophy MVP of the Finals for Russell in 2009, 40 years after his retirement as a player.
“[Russell] was the first person to dominate their sport without being the offensive type…[he] makes everyone stars. [He] never felt the obligation to be the star [himself]unless it’s absolutely necessary, ”said Bill Walton, another Hall of Fame center. Boston Globe.
As the WorldBob Ryan once wrote: “Measured strictly in wins and losses, Bill Russell is second to none in the history of American athletics.
3. Avant-garde: John “Hondo” Havlicek
John Havlicek, pictured in 1974 with teammates Jo Jo White, Dave Cowens and former teammate Tommy Heinsohn, enjoyed success on the pitch until the 1970s.
Frank O’Brien / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 1983
Havlicek was a driving force behind the Celtics’ running in the 1960s, winning six titles during that streak. But it also extended Boston’s reign over the sport into the 1970s, leading the team to titles in 1974 and 1976.
Over a 16-year career, Havlicek was 13-time star, 11 All-NBA caps, eight-time All-Defensive player and 1974 Finals MVP. In the 1966 and 1974 playoffs, he averaged 25.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists, a stat line that rivals any current NBA star.
In Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, Havlicek stole a pass within limits five seconds to go and the Celtics held a one point lead. The game was not only one of the great moments in NBA playoff history, but it exemplified Havlicek’s total style of play, which regularly garnered the admiration of his teammates and opponents.
In Bill Simmons The basketball book, Russell called Havlicek “the best all-around player I have ever seen.”
4. Point Guard: Bob Cousy, the “Hardwood Houdini”
Bob Cousy was a star in the early years of the Boston Celtics dynasty.
Bettman Archives via Getty Images
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 1971
Cousy was the driving force behind Auerbach’s counterattack offensive. In 13 seasons, he made 13 all-star teams, 12 All-NBA teams, led the league in assists per game eight times, won six championships and was named MVP once.
Cousy didn’t win a title until Russell arrived, but he propelled the Celtics’ offense through the early years of the dynasty, averaging 19.5 points and 8.2 assists in the 1956 seasons. -57 to 1959-60. In 1963, he retired at age 34 after winning five consecutive titles.
Cousy was among the first NBA players to use creative dribbling moves and passing. In 1956, Illustrated sportsHerbert Warren Wind wrote that Cousy “showed, in what was an enlightened revolution, that basketball offers a hundred and one possibilities of maneuvers that no one has ever dreamed of before.”
5. Forward: Tommy Heinsohn
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME AS A PLAYER: 1986 | AS A COACH: 2015
Heinsohn, a Hall of Fame member as a Celtics player and coach, entered the league with Bill Russell in 1956-57, won eight championships in nine years, then retired after the 1964-65 season at 30 years.
“He was a heavy smoker at the time, and some of us thought it shortened his career,” Dan Shaughnessy wrote in the Boston Globe shortly after Heinsohn’s death in 2020. Heinsohn also won championships as a Boston coach in 1974 and 1976.
For his career, Heinsohn averaged 18.6 points and 8.8 rebounds alongside Russell. And, like Russell, he was known to keep the best for when games mattered most. In the 1963 playoffs, he averaged 24.7 points.
Heinsohn was also adored by Celtics fans as the team’s unofficial broadcaster and historian. As Chad Finn from Boston Globe “It’s not just that the Celtics story can’t be told without Tommy Heinsohn… It’s that the Celtics story… can’t be told without hearing his gritty, loud voice tell it.”
6. Guard Point: Sam Jones
Sam Jones won 10 championships with the Celtics.
Bettman Archives via Getty Images
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 1983
Jones, a 6-foot-4 goaltender who played his entire 12-year career with the Celtics from 1957 to 1969, won the second-largest championship (10) in NBA history, behind Russell’s 11.
Five-time star, he averaged 17.7 points and was known to win in the clutch. During a five-year playoff streak from 1962 to 1967, Jones averaged 25.3 points.
“Whenever the pressure was on, Sam was hungry for the ball.” Russell wrote. “To me that’s a sign of a champion… The heart of champions has to do with how deeply you are motivated and how your mind and body respond to pressure. It’s focus, it’s that is, being able to do what you do best under maximum pain and stress. Sam Jones has a champion’s heart. “
7. Before: Tom “Satch” Sanders
Tom Sanders (right) fights for a rebound with Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors.
Bettman Archives via Getty Images
INTRODUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME: 2011
While his career stats (9.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game) may seem unremarkable, Sanders has carved out a place for himself as a strong defenseman and rebounder.
In 13 seasons, Sanders won eight championships, tied for third in NBA history. He was also part of the All-Defensive team in 1968-69 and was elected to the Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2011.
At the end of his playing career, Sanders, whose body had started to wear out towards the end, told the Boston Globe that he would miss the camaraderie of his teammates the most. “[T]The hat tie is something that only exists when you’re on the team, ”he said.
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