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Top 50 Boston Celtics

There are successful NBA Teams, and there are the Boston Celtics.

Seriously, this is no hyperbole.  The Celtics have been that much more successful than any other franchise in the National Basketball Association with 17 titles, one more than the Los Angeles Lakers, their longtime rival.

Formed in 1946, The Boston Celtics were part of the Basketball Association of America and would become part of the NBA in 1949 when the league absorbed them.  The first years in the NBA were not pretty for the Celtics, but they would become a league powerhouse built by Red Auerbach and based around the superstar Center, Bill Russell.  Russell and the perfect cast around him (that would include at times Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Willie Naulls, K.C. Jones, and Sam Jones) would put forth the greatest dynasty in North American team sports. 

From 1957 to 1969 Boston won 11 Titles. Think about that for a minute.  11 NBA Championships in 13 NBA Seasons.  This is a dynasty that may never happen again.

This wasn’t it for the Celtics.

Boston would win the championship twice in the 1970s (1974 and 1976) with the acquisition of Dave Cowens and Heinsohn as their big two, but the decade after would be more dynamic.  The Celtics drafted Larry Bird, and along with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, the Celtics had a trio that would win the title in 1981, 1984 & 1986.

It would take another "big three" in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen to win it again in 2008, the Celtics' 17th overall.


This list is up to the end of the 2022-23 regular season.

Note: Basketball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.

Dana Barros signed with the Celtics as a Free Agent the year after he was named an All-Star and the Most Improved Player of the Year Award with the Sixers.  With all due respect to Barros, the Celtics didn’t get that player, though the Point Guard did get a hometown player who gave them solid efficiency (16.4 PER) and a 10.1 PPG.  Barros' first two seasons in Boston would see him average 12.8 Points, and…
A member of the 2008 NBA Championship Team, Kendrick Perkins arrived in Boston as part of a draft-day trade.  Kendrick, who was drafted late in the 1st Round, would provide an above-average defense to the Celtics and he would have two straight top five Defensive Rating finishes (2007-08 & 2008-09).  Perkins would act as the team's enforcer if need be and that toughness is hard to quantify, but we hope we did so appropriately on…
Playing for the Boston Celtics for five and a half seasons, Tony Battie was never going to be confused with an elite player, but the Center was strong at the little details that did not appear on a stat sheet.  Averaging 6.8 Points and 5.9 Rebounds per Game, Battie was an expert screen setter and a master of floor placement, which was why the Celtics held onto him for so long and he would have…
This one will take a while. First off, we feel guilty ranking Jim Loscutoff so low.  This man is iconic in Beantown and was one of the most popular players ever in the Celtics’ green.  Saying that, let’s focus on the positive. 
When Daniel Theis was draft eligible in 2013, the German Center was not on anyone’s radar.  This changed when after four seasons as a German League All-Star, and German League Champion with Brose Bamberg, he was on the North American radar, and the Celtics signed him in 2017. Theis was a bench player in his first two years, barely averaging 14 Minutes per Game, but he was a nice change of pace with his European style…
Kenny Anderson was an All-Star with the New Jersey Nets four years before he was traded to Boston during the 1997-98 Season and the Point Guard was able to average double-digits (11.3) in the PPG stat over his four and have seasons with the team.  Peaking with the Celtics with a 14.0 PPG campaign in 1999-00, he would average 1.9 Steals per Game two years later, which would be good enough for ninth overall.
The Boston Celtics drafted the Yugoslavian born, Dino Radja in the 2nd Round of the 1989 Draft but it took until the 1993-94 season that the Power Forward elected to leave Europe to play in the United States.
Brandon Bass played for the Boston Celtics for four seasons (2011-12 to 2014-15) and would start 224 of his 304 Games there.  Bass arrived in Boston via trade from Orlando, and in three of his seasons, he would average over 10 Points per Game, peaking at 12.5 in 2011-12, a career high.  He would overall average 10.6 Points and 5.5 Rebounds per Game for the franchise.
A two-time All-American at Ohio State, Jared Sullinger was the 21st Overall Draft Pick in 2012 where he would become the team's regular Power Forward in his second season.  The former Buckeye would post consecutive 13.3 PPG seasons in 2013-14 & 2014-15 and would have two seasons (2013-14 & 2015-16) where he had a Rebounds per Game average over eight.  Sullinger would also have a PER over 16 in three straight seasons in Boston (2013-14…
The Celtics drafted Eric Williams 14th Overall out of Providence in 1995, and he played his first two seasons in the NBA there.  Williams was a starter in his second season and averaged an even 15.0 Points per Game, but he would be traded to the Denver Nuggets after where a torn ACL would see him only play 42 Games in two seasons there.