The Boston Celtics, rating 3.91 (since 1946-47) Considering how good the Celtics have been, they would be on a par with the New York Yankees or the Montreal Canadiens for how dominant they have been in their leagues. Yet the NBA has created an unparalleled juggernaut in their rivals, the Lakers. So the Celtics will have to make do with being the better team most of the time when they face off against each other, defeating the Lakers 9 times out of 12 in the NBA Finals. The other 8 out of 9 unfortunate Finals opponents have typically been formalities in Boston's path to the title. So while the Lakers have won more than half of their finals appearances, the Celtics can almost chalk up any appearance as an expectation, winning an awesome 17 out of 21 times. They've held the league's best record 18 times, far more than any other franchise. Boston hasn't always been a contender, but when they are they really know how to win. Maybe it's the home court. There's some kind of magic in Boston. Unlike the Lakers, it took Boston ten seasons to get a championship, but if you became a Celtics fan in 1957 you had no idea what was in store for you for the next thirty years. Boston has had what can be described as two minor dynasties (the 1971-72 to 1975-76 Havlicek/Cowens era and the 2007-08 to present Garnett/Pierce/Allen teams), a major dynasty (the 1979-80 to 1987-88 Bird/McHale/Parish golden age) before falling off for 20 years, and a megalithic empire unparalleled in any pro sport (the 1956-57 to 1968-69 Russell/Havlicek/insert many, many iconic players saga), winning 11 titles in 13 seasons. Their biggest rival, outside of LA, has been the Philadelphia 76ers/Syracuse Nationals, who they've met in the playoffs an NBA record 18 times, 13 times in the conference finals alone which is more than any other two teams have met at all. Sadly that rivalry hasn't been all that serious in the last 25 years. Other rivals include the Knicks, Pistons, and the early STL Hawks and PHI Warriors. Boston, you might be listed in second place, but at least you didn't have an iconic franchise thrown into your lap from Minneapolis. You built it from the ground up. Now, on to the Celtics top 10%: Who is Boston's best? After a lot of number crunching, it is none other than the legendary Bill Russell. His rating here is one of the highest any player has ever amassed for any team. But consider this: I include defensive numbers in a player's rating, and defensive stats weren't kept back then, so I'm forced to use the average numbers for his position. Though it only counts for a small amount, how much higher would it have been if I had his real numbers? We'll never know. His sidekick, John Havlicek comes in second, with Larry Legend in third, and Bob Cousy in fourth. Boston's players tend to have an even higher rating than Laker players, because 1) their stars stick around the team longer (13 of Boston's top 17 have played 10+ seasons for the team, the other four: 9 seasons), and 2) so many titles have come so close together. All-Celtics Team C - Bill Russell F - Larry Bird F - John Havlicek G - Bob Cousy G - Sam Jones B - Tom Heinsohn B - Kevin McHale B - Robert Parish Top 10% out of 373, (current players noted with asterisk - *) 1. 243.156 Bill Russell 1956-57 to 1968-69 2. 220.132 John Havlicek 1962-63 to 1977-78 3. 208.520 Larry Bird 1979-80 to 1991-92 4. 201.144 Bob Cousy 1950-51 to 1962-63 5. 156.008 Sam Jones 1957-58 to 1968-69 6. 143.629 Tom Heinsohn 1956-57 to 1964-65 7. 139.906 Kevin McHale 1980-81 to 1992-93 8. 138.108 Robert Parish 1980-81 to 1993-94 9. 134.375 Bill Sharman 1951-52 to 1960-61 10. 122.822 Dave Cowens 1970-71 to 1979-80 11. 113.493 Tom Sanders 1960-61 to 1972-73 12. 110.844 Paul Pierce 1998-99 to 2009-10 - * 13. 106.727 Frank Ramsey 1954-55, 1956-57 to 1963-64 14. 102.864 KC Jones 1958-59 to 1966-67 15. 99.167 Jo Jo White 1969-70 to 1978-79 16. 93.456 Don Nelson 1965-66 to 1975-76 17. 92.571 Jim Loscutoff 1955-56 to 1963-64 18. 85.799 Ed Macauley 1950-51 to 1955-56 19. 80.582 Dennis Johnson 1983-84 to 1989-90 20. 80.463 Danny Ainge 1981-82 to 1988-89 21. 78.164 Cedric Maxwell 1977-78 to 1984-85 22. 73.956 Larry Siegfried 1963-64 to 1969-70 23. 70.349 Paul Silas 1972-73 to 1975-76 24. 69.996 Don Chaney 1968-69 to 1974-75, 1977-78 to 1979-80 25. 66.998 Kevin Garnett 2007-08 to 2009-10 - * 26. 65.434 Antoine Walker 1996-97 to 2002-03, 2004-05 27. 64.450 Tiny Archibald 1978-79 to 1982-83 28. 59.144 Rajon Rondo 2006-07 to 2009-10 - * 29. 58.392 ML Carr 1979-80 to 1984-85 30. 56.924 Bailey Howell 1966-67 to 1969-70 31. 55.640 Gerald Henderson 1979-80 to 1983-84 32. 53.028 Reggie Lewis 1987-88 to 1992-93 33. 52.059 Steve Kuberski 1969-70 to 1973-74, 1975-76 to 1977-78 34. 50.769 Jack Nichols 1954-55 to 1957-58 35. 49.891 Rick Robey 1978-79 to 1982-83 36. 48.190 Ray Allen 2007-08 to 2009-10 - * 37. 46.267 Dee Brown 1990-91 to 1997-98
