Best Boston Celtics Players All-Time Ranked

[HacheMan]

BETMGM

Ranking the Best Boston Celtics Players of All Time​

Rank	Player	Position	Celtics Years
1	Bill Russell	C	1956-69
2	Larry Bird	F	1979-92
3	John Havlicek	F/G	1962-78
4	Kevin McHale	F	1980-93
5	Robert Parish	C	1980-94
6	Bob Cousy	G	1950-63
7	Paul Pierce	F/G	1998-2013
8	Dave Cowens	C/F	1970-80
9	Bill Sharman	G	1951-61
10	Sam Jones	G/F	1957-69

10. Sam Jones​

Sam Jones won 10 NBA championships with the Celtics, and yet he doesn’t even have the franchise record in that department.
Jones was a five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection and is seventh in the franchise’s all-time ranks with 15,411 points.

9. Bill Sharman​

A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, Bill Sharman made the All-NBA team seven times and the All-Star team on eight occasions.
The eventual NBA coach helped Boston win four titles.

8. Dave Cowens​

Dave Cowens, the 1972-73 MVP, won two championships with the Celtics before a coaching career of his own.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team member was an eight-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA pick, three-time all-defensive team member and the 1970-71 Rookie of the Year. In Celtics record books, he’s third in rebounds (10,170), sixth in blocks (473), ninth in points (13,192), 10th in assists (2,828) and tied for 10th in steals (569).

7. Paul Pierce​

Paul Pierce’s career was greatly successful even before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen went to Boston and they won a title in 2008 when Pierce was the NBA Finals MVP.
Pierce was an All-Star 10 times and an All-NBA selection four times en route to a place on the 75th NBA Anniversary Team. Pierce has the franchise record for career steals (1,583) and is second in points (24,021), fourth in blocks (668), fifth in assists (4,305) and seventh in rebounds (6,651).

6. Bob Cousy​

Bob Cousy, the 1956-57 MVP, led the NBA in assists for eight seasons and has the most in Celtics history with 6,945 while being sixth with 16,955 points.
The eventual coach was a 13-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA honoree, six-time NBA champion and a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

5. Robert Parish​

Robert Parish played until he was 43 years old, but most of his career was with the Celtics. He’s first in the franchise’s history with 1,703 blocks, second with 11,051 rebounds and fourth with 18,245 points and 873 steals.
He was an All-Star on nine occasions, an All-NBA selection twice and a four-time NBA champion, earning him a place on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

4. Kevin McHale​

Before becoming an NBA executive and coach, Kevin McHale helped the Celtics win three NBA championships.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team member was a seven-time All-Star, six-time all-defensive team pick and two-time sixth man of the year award winner. He’s second with 1,690 blocks, fifth with 17,335 points and sixth with 7,122 rebounds in the Celtics record books.

3. John Havlicek​

John Havlicek deserves a place as a top-three Celtic of all time as he’s the franchise leader in points (26,395) and is second in assists (6,114) and fifth in rebounds (8,007).
He was an eight-time NBA champion while being the NBA Finals MVP in 1973-74, 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, eight-time all-defensive team pick and part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

2. Larry Bird​

Larry Bird certainly has an argument for the first spot on this list as he’s top five in the Boston record books in steals (second, 1,556), points (third, 21,791), assists (third, 5,695), blocks (third, 755) and rebounds (fourth, 8,974).
While winning three NBA championships, “Larry Legend” was the league MVP three times, an All-Star 12 times, All-NBA selection 10 times, all-defensive team member three times, NBA Finals MVP two times and the 1979-80 Rookie of the Year before becoming a coach and executive en route to a place on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

1. Bill Russell​

Bill Russell’s 11 NBA titles is more than anyone else in the history of the league, and he is the franchise leader in rebounds (21,620) while being sixth in assists (4,100) and eighth in points (14,522).
An NBA 75th Anniversary Team member, Russell was a five-time MVP, 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection and 1968-69 all-defensive team member while leading the league in rebounds four times. Russell also coached the Celtics during two of those championship years.

 

[HacheMan]

Would you flip-flop anything?

 

[MAGAking1]

 

[HacheMan]

My opinion is that it's hard to gauge Bill Russell based on the competition he played against back then

 

[5o'clockcharlie]

Would you flip-flop anything?

Cousy would be #4 on my list.

 

[Willie99]

Hard to disagree with the top 3 or 4 guys

I suppose many of the other candidates haven't played with the team long enough
KG
Ray
Jason
even Brown

Jason will make that list. Brown needs a couple of titles

 

[Willie99]

My opinion is that it's hard to gauge Bill Russell based on the competition he played against back then

I think Russell is an all-time great, along with the Big O. A different era, but years ahead of their time. With their athleticism, I'm certain they'd succeed to today. Can't say that about everybody

 

[Greenbacks]

Tatum has 5 50+ point games
Give him the 10 slot

 

[Greenbacks]

Are you serious?
Delete
Lol

 

[Michelangelo]

I'm not giving Tatum anything. He's got a solid supporting cast but he hasn't won anything. Those guys listed did everything. Scored, assisted, and above all else almost without exception played great defense. They also had high basketball IQs. You NEVER saw them doing stupid things. They all had keen awareness of game situations and how to play under extreme pressure. Tatum has a TON to prove in those areas.

I like the list. I think it's as close as you can get. God, those guys knew how to play the game and played their butts off till their legs wobbled.

The guy who is absent from that list, probably because he wasn't a Celtic long enough, but played the game like the rest of them is Kevin Garnett. He definitely deserves a place in the list of all time Celtic bests. Another guy who was only here for a short time but played top notch Celtic basketball was Bill Walton.

 

[Willie99]

Jason is 25, Brown 26

MJ was 28, Lebron 27, KD 26, Curry 27 when they won their first title

 

[CHOPTALK]

What about A Walker ?
11th?

 

[CHOPTALK]

And Reggie Lewis
Didn’t he have to retire early ?
He would have been up there with a long career

 

[Willie99]

And Reggie Lewis
Didn’t he have to retire early ?
He would have been up there with a long career

Reggie kept playing, and died while active. At least that's my long term recollection

 

[Greenbacks]

I'm not giving Tatum anything. He's got a solid supporting cast but he hasn't won anything. Those guys listed did everything. Scored, assisted, and above all else almost without exception played great defense. They also had high basketball IQs. You NEVER saw them doing stupid things. They all had keen awareness of game situations and how to play under extreme pressure. Tatum has a TON to prove in those areas.

I like the list. I think it's as close as you can get. God, those guys knew how to play the game and played their butts off till their legs wobbled.

The guy who is absent from that list, probably because he wasn't a Celtic long enough, but played the game like the rest of them is Kevin Garnett. He definitely deserves a place in the list of all time Celtic bests. Another guy who was only here for a short time but played top notch Celtic basketball was Bill Walton.

Yeah Walton was a 1 hit wonder.
Played 1 season.
Wouldn't crack the top 50
Garnett played 6 seasons. That's long enough. With a ring.
If you put Walton on the list then you might as well put Ainge on it . LOL

 

[Avocado33]

Tatum has the talent, but hasn’t quite put it all together and hasn’t had the team success yet

Great franchise in the old days

 

[Michelangelo]

Yeah Walton was a 1 hit wonder.
Played 1 season.
Wouldn't crack the top 50
Garnett played 6 seasons. That's long enough. With a ring.

Actually 2. 85-86; 86-87. His career was cut short by injuries. I never said he deserved to be on that list. He just played great and completely embodied what it meant to be a Celtic while he was here.

That one full season he played they won one of their many Championships.

Tatum? We're still waiting. Sure. He can score. That makes him an also ran. He needs to be great at other aspects of the game. Hell, he doesn't even know enough to put the ball up when the clock is expiring at the end of the game down a point. You think the guys on that list ever did something like that? Believe me, they didn't. He's got a long way to go to make that list. I hope he gets there.

 

[Greenbacks]

Tatum has the talent, but hasn’t quite put it all together and hasn’t had the team success yet

Great franchise in the old days

Hasn't quite put it together as a player?
No doubt he as a player has put it together.
6 seasons,made the playoffs all 6.
1st team all NBA
He averaged 30 ppg this season
Hell of a player
You must be a hater

 

[Greenbacks]

Actually 2. 85-86; 86-87. His career was cut short by injuries. I never said he deserved to be on that list. He just played great and completely embodied what it meant to be a Celtic while he was here.

That one full season he played they won one of their many Championships.

Tatum? We're still waiting. Sure. He can score. That makes him an also ran. He needs to be great at other aspects of the game. Hell, he doesn't even know enough to put the ball up when the clock is expiring at the end of the game down a point. You think the guys on that list ever did something like that? Believe me, they didn't. He's got a long way to go to make that list. I hope he gets there.

Yeah he played 2 seasons
80 games and 10 games
Averaged 7.3 ppg
Dennis Johnson before him

 

[HacheMan]

I used to be a big Paul Pierce fan

Patting my own back here but before everyone realized how good he really was, I have posts somewhere here saying he was the main man, not Garnett when they brought him over

KG also rubbed off on Pierce and turned him into an asshole