Major honours
The franchise that defined the very idea of a dynasty in North American professional sports. Founded in 1946 as a charter member of the BAA, the Celtics went a full decade without a title until Red Auerbach, appointed coach in 1950, secured the draft rights to Bill Russell in 1956 — after which everything changed. Boston won 11 titles across Russell's 13 seasons, and its run of eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966 has never been matched in any of America's four major pro sports. Auerbach was ahead of his time off the court too: in 1950 he drafted Chuck Cooper, making Boston the first team to draft a Black player, and in 1966 he handed the reins to Russell, making him the league's first Black head coach. In the 1980s a frontcourt of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish added three more titles, and the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen trio in 2008 and the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown team in 2024 carried that lineage forward. The 2024 title brought Boston's total to 18, overtaking the Lakers once again.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers is this sport's archetypal feud: the two teams have met in the Finals twelve times, with Boston leading 9-3. The three Finals meetings between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s were its peak.