Monday, May 20, 2013

The 18 greatest Boston Celtics of all-time

People love lists.  As far as I know I've never done a list post before.  It's about time.  So without further ado, here are the top 18 Boston Celtics in franchise history:

18.  Danny Ainge
18, 2, 16, 8, and 9
17.  Frank Ramsey
16.  Dennis Johnson
15.  Kevin Garnett
14.  Cedric Maxwell
13.  Bill Sharman
12.  K.C. Jones
11.  Jo-Jo White
10.  Paul Pierce
  9.  Robert Parrish
  8.  Kevin McHale
  7.  Tommy Heinsohn
  6.  Sam Jones
  5.  Dave Cowens
  4.  Bob Cousy
  3.  John Havlicek
  2.  Larry Bird
  1.  Bill Russell

Obviously this list is extremely subjective and up for immense debate.  It's hard to factor the value of longevity for a guy like Pierce, who has 10 All-Star appearances and is the second leading scorer in club history (behind Havlicek), but won just a single title and was often the best player on bad teams.  And how do you rate someone such as Garnett (also just one title in only 6 seasons in Boston, but he changed the entire culture of the franchise at the time and was the driving force for that single championship) compared to Frank Ramsey; who won 7 titles but always as a complimentary player?

If you're wondering why I chose to list the top 18, I could be witty and say it represents the elusive championship banner #18 we're hoping to hang in the rafters.  But it actually comes from an article I wrote yesterday for Celtics Life: "Where do Paul Pierce & Kevin Garnett rank on the list of all-time Celtics?"  Eighteen just happened to be as far back as I thought it was worth discussing to find out where KG fit.  Take a look at that piece in order to get some insight as to how this list turned out the way it did.

  
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4 comments:

  1. david figgieSeptember 9, 2013 at 5:14 PM

    pierce needs to be higher. whom he replaces idk?...never saw sam jones. I do not believe championships should be that vital in gaging a player.
    See Dan Marino / I do not believe Scott Wedman is a good a Wilt Chamberlain

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  2. nikolas88September 9, 2013 at 6:41 PM

    Celtics are judjed by championships though.......

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  3. Mark VandeusenSeptember 10, 2013 at 11:30 AM

    I wrote this before Pierce was traded, but since he was dealt I feel like people want to rank his place in history very highly at the moment. I realize titles don't mean everything, but Jones won TEN of them (2nd most in NBA history behind Russell). And it's not like he was a role player, he led the team in scoring several years, peaking at 25.9 PPG in 1964-'65.

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  4. Philosophical GSeptember 24, 2013 at 3:01 PM

    Sam Jones was a scoring phenomenon. Wedman played a completely different position to Wilt and they contributed to their teams respectively.

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