The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by Wyc Grousbeck with Brad Stevens as the general manager.[1] Founded in 1946, their 17 NBA championships are the tied for the most for any NBA franchise along with their long time rivals Los Angeles Lakers,[1] and their eight consecutive NBA championships from 1959 to 1966 represent the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada to date. They play their home games in the TD Garden.[1]
There have been 18 head coaches for the Boston Celtics franchise. The Celtics won their first NBA championship in the 1957 NBA Finals under the coaching of Red Auerbach. Auerbach is the franchise's all-time leader in the number of regular-season and playoff wins as a coach.[2] Auerbach and Bill Fitch were included in the Top 10 Coaches in NBA history.[3] Fitch was the 1979–80 NBA Coach of the Year and also led the Celtics to a championship in 1981. Auerbach led the Celtics to nine championships, in 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966. He was also the 1965–66 Coach of the Year. K.C. Jones led the Celtics to two championships, in 1984 and 1986. Alvin Julian, Auerbach, Tom Heinsohn, Fitch and Rick Pitino have earned induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches.[4][5]
Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Tom Sanders, Dave Cowens, K.C. Jones, Chris Ford and M. L. Carr have played and coached for the Celtics. John Russell, Alvin Julian, Heinsohn, Sanders, Carr, and John Carroll spent their entire coaching career with the Celtics. Doc Rivers, led the team to one NBA championship.[1]
Key
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Celtics |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
| *† | Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and spent entire coaching career with the Celtics |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
| 1 | John Russell* | 1946–1948 | 108 | 42 | 66 | .389 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | [6] | |
| 2 | Alvin Julian*† | 1948–1950 | 128 | 47 | 81 | .367 | — | — | — | — | [4] | |
| 3 | Red Auerbach† | 1950–1966 | 1192 | 795 | 397 | .669 | 148 | 90 | 58 | .608 | 9 championships (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966) 1964–65 NBA Coach of the Year One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[3] | [5] |
| 4 | Bill Russell† | 1966–1969 (as player-coach) | 245 | 162 | 83 | .661 | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 2 championships (1968, 1969) | [7] |
| 5 | Tom Heinsohn*† | 1969–1978 | 690 | 427 | 263 | .619 | 80 | 47 | 33 | .588 | 1972–73 NBA Coach of the Year 2 championships (1974, 1976) | [8] |
| 6 | Tom Sanders* | 1978 | 62 | 23 | 39 | .371 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
| 7 | Dave Cowens | 1978–1979 (as player-coach) | 68 | 27 | 41 | .397 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
| 8 | Bill Fitch† | 1979–1983 | 328 | 242 | 86 | .738 | 45 | 26 | 19 | .578 | 1 championship (1981) 1979–80 NBA Coach of the year One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[3] | [11] |
| 9 | K. C. Jones | 1983–1988 | 410 | 308 | 102 | .751 | 102 | 65 | 37 | .637 | 2 championships (1984, 1986) | [12] |
| 10 | Jimmy Rodgers | 1988–1990 | 164 | 94 | 70 | .573 | 8 | 2 | 6 | .250 | [13] | |
| 11 | Chris Ford | 1990–1995 | 410 | 222 | 188 | .541 | 29 | 13 | 16 | .448 | [14] | |
| 12 | M. L. Carr* | 1995–1997 | 164 | 48 | 116 | .293 | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
| 13 | Rick Pitino | 1997–2001 | 248 | 102 | 146 | .411 | — | — | — | — | [16] | |
| 14 | Jim O'Brien | 2001–2004 | 258 | 139 | 119 | .539 | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 | [17] | |
| 15 | John Carroll* | 2004 | 36 | 14 | 22 | .389 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | [18] | |
| 16 | Doc Rivers | 2004–2013 | 721 | 416 | 305 | .577 | 104 | 58 | 46 | .558 | 1 championship (2008) | [19] |
| 17 | Brad Stevens* | 2013–2021 | 636 | 354 | 282 | .557 | 78 | 38 | 40 | .487 | [20] | |
| 18 | Ime Udoka | 2021–2022 | 82 | 51 | 31 | .622 | 24 | 14 | 10 | .583 | [21] | |
| 19 | Joe Mazzulla* | 2022–present | 164 | 121 | 43 | .738 | 20 | 11 | 9 | .550 | [22] | |
Red Auerbach led the franchise to 9 NBA championships in 16 seasons.
Bill Russell was the coach for the Celtics when they won the Back to back NBA championship in 1968 and 1969.
Tom Heinsohn was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1972–73 and won the NBA championship in 1974 and 1976.
Former head coach Doc Rivers led the team to the NBA championship in 2008.
Brad Stevens was the Celtics' head coach from 2013 to 2021.
Notes
References
- General
- "Boston Celtics Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
- "Boston Celtics Coach Stats". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
- Specific