The history of the Celtics is full of struggle, especially in the early years, till the hiring of Coach Red Auerbach. It was a time, when one of the first major players, Bob Cousy, had joined the team. He was drafted by other team, but was acquired back by the Celtics in a dispersal draft. Auerbach had made a very intelligent trade after the 1955–56 seasons. He had sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the Hawks' first round draft pick. Auerbach used the pick to select University of San Francisco center Bill Russell along with NBA Rookie of the Year 1957, Tommy Heinsohn. Russell and Heinsohn really worked hard with Cousy, and created a trio for the up rise of the Celtics for more than a decade.
Boston Celtics have been representing Boston, Massachusetts since 1946 on the basket ball court. Initially when the franchise was formed up in 1946, it played as a member of Basketball Association of America. Currently team is a member of National Basketball Association, and that happened after the NBA was resulted from the merger of both Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL).
The team’s first coach was Honey Russell, who led the team for their first two seasons, and after those two seasons, Russell was replaced by Doggie Julian who took the team’s lead as the head coach on April 11, 1948. Julian also remained the head coach of the team for next 2 seasons. During the reign of its first two coaches the team didn’t really perform that well and merely struggled, however as soon as the team went under the leadership of its third coach Red Auerbach, the team started to rise up. Auerbach took charge on April 27, 1950 and remained the team’s head coach for next 16 seasons. During the reign of Auerbach; Bob Cousy, Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn were among the major players that were drafted to the Celtics roster. The trio had a major impact on the team, as team’s performance on the whole, was improved.
As of today, Celtics have an amazing total of 17 NBA Championships. The first one came to them in 1957, after the team made its way to the finals and claimed its victory over St. Louis Hawks in seven games. The tables, however, were turned in the following year, as Celtics once again made it into the NBA finals but only this time they were defeated by St. Louis Hawks in 6 games. Celtics next NBA Championship win came the following year in 1959 as the team rushed its way in to the finals and claimed the championship after defeating Minneapolis Lakers. From 1959 till 1966, Celtics made a record after winning 8 Championships in a row.
In 1966, after Celtics claimed their eighth championship victory, Auerbach retired as the head coach of the team and Bill Russell took the charge of the team as its new head coach. Celtics NBA Championship winning was ended in 1970, as they were defeated by Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Conference Finals. Even though Auerbach retired as the coach of the team, but he still remained the General Manager of the team, and maintained his position till 1980s. Russell’s reign as the head coach was short lived as well, as he retired after the 1969 season.
After few years of disappointment, Celtics made their partial comeback in 1973 season when the team was able to fetch 68-14 regular season record, but unfortunately wasn’t able to make it to NBA finals. So what was considered to be Celtics complete comeback after their 8 consecutive championships was in 1974, when the team made its way in to the finals yet again and after defeating Milwaukee Bucks, claimed their 12th NBA Championship.
Author Resource:-
Maria is a professional writer for A-Bronx-Tale.com. Music and Art is her passion and she enjoys writing on various Arts events including concerts and theaters. She can be reached at maria@a-bronx-tale.com.
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