Boston Celtics

About Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by Wycliffe Grousbeck and coached by Doc Rivers, with Danny Ainge as the general manager. Founded in 1946, their 16 NBA Championships are the most for any NBA franchise, while the 1959-to-1966 domination of the NBA Championship, with eight straight titles, is the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any North American professional sports team to date. They currently play their home games in the TD Banknorth Garden.

The Celtics either dominated the league or played a large part in the playoffs in the late 1950s through the mid 1980s. After the death of their top draft pick Len Bias, just two days after the 1986 NBA Draft, the team fell into a steady decline, only making the playoffs four times from 1996 to 2007. The franchise has recently returned to dominance with the acquisition of power forward Kevin Garnett and shooting guard Ray Allen during the 2007 off-season.

The Celtics were formed in 1946 as a team in the Basketball Association of America, and became part of the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the merger of the BAA and the National Basketball League to form the NBA in the fall of 1949. In 1950, the Celtics became the first franchise to draft an African American player, signing Chuck Cooper.