The Bill Russell Celtics are one of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history, but just how dominant were they?
All Star Caliber Players From From 1957 to 1969: 10
1) Bill Russell (1957-1969)
Notable Accolades: 12 Time All Star, 11 Time All NBA, 4 Time Rebound Champ, 5 Time MVP, Fantastic Rebounder, Greatest Defender Of All Time
Regular Season Averages: 15 Points, 22.5 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists
Playoff Averages: 16 Points, 25 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists
2) John Havlicek
Notable Accolades: 13 Time All Star, 11 Time All NBA, 8 Time All Defense, 1974 Finals MVP, Won two titles without Bill Russell, one of them as arguably the best player on the team, Top Wing defender in the NBA, arguably the best
Years Played With Bill Russell: 7 (1963-1969)
Regular Season Averages: 19.5 Points, 6 Rebounds, 3.5 Assists
Playoff Averages: 22 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists
Times All NBA Without Bill: 7
Times All NBA with Bill: 4
Times All Star With Bill: 4
Times All Star Without Bill: 9
3) Bob Cousy
Notable Accolades: 13 Time All Star, 12 Time All NBA, 8 Time Assist Champ, Won an MVP the same year Bill Russell was drafted, very good defensive PG, best passer in the league for an entire decade.
Years Played With Bill: 7 (1957-1963)
Regular Season Averages: 17.5 Points, 4.5 Rebounds, 8 Assists
Playoff Averages: 17 Points, 5 Rebounds, 9 Assists
Times All NBA Without Bill: 5
Times All NBA With Bill: 7
Times All Star Without Bill: 6
Times All Star With Bill: 7
4) Sam Jones
Notable Accolades: 5 Time All Star, 3 Time All NBA, Fantastic Offensive Player
Years Played With Bill: 12 (1958-1969)
Regular Season Averages: 17.5 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists
Playoff Averages:19 Points, 4.5 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists
Times All NBA With Bill: 3
Times All Star With Bill: 5
5) Bill Sharman
Notable Accolades: 8 Time All Star, 7 Time All NBA, Great Offensive Player
Years Played With Bill: 5 1957-1961)
Regular Season Averages: 20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists
Playoff Averages: 19 Points, 3.5 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Times All NBA With Bill: 4
Times All NBA Without Bill: 3
All Star Games With Bill: 4
All Star Games Without Bill: 4
6) Tom Heinsohn
Notable Accolades: 6 Time All Star, 4 Time All NBA, Very Good Rebounder, Good Scorer
Years Played With Bill: 9 (1957-1965)
Regular Season Averages: 18.5 Points, 9 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Playoff Averages: 20 Points, 9 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Times All NBA With Bill: 4
Times All Star Wilt Bill: 6
7) Clyde Lovellette
Notable Accolades: 4 Time All Star, 1 Time All NBA, Very Good Scorer, Very Good Rebounder
(Note: Though Clyde's stats may be underwhelming wigh Boston, that is more to do with him playing a lot less behind a deep roster. He went from playing 30 minutes a game the previous season averaging 21 points and 9 rebounds to playing 9 minutes averaging 6.5 and 3. Despite that, he was still very much all star caliber.)
Years Played With Bill: 2 (1963-1964)
All NBA Without Bill: 1
All Star Without Bill: 4
Bailey Howell
Notable Accolades: 6 Time All Star, 1 Time All NBA, Very Good Rebounder, Very Good Scorer
Years Played With Bill: 3 (1967-1969)
Regular Season Stats: 20 Points, 9 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists
Playoffs: 16.5 Points, 7 Rebounds, 1 Assist
Times All NBA Without Bill: 1
Times All Star With Bill: 1
Times All Star Without Bill: 5
9) Frank Ramsey
Notable Accolades: 7 Time Champ, The Original 6th Man, Very Good Scoring Threat Off The Bench, Averaged 19 Points In A 4 Game Stretch With Boston
(Note:Though he didn't make any all star or all NBA teams, Frank Ramsey was a fantastic bench player for Boston, averaging 19 points for them from 1958 to 1961, and he was a key contributor to the team. Basically the Manu Ginobili of the Celtics.)
Years Played With Bill: 8 (1957-1964)
10) Red Auerbach (lol)
Notable Accolades: 10x Celtics Coach With Bill Russell, Top 5 Coach Of All Time
Years With Bill: 10 (1957-1966)
Number Of All Star Caliber Players In Total:
1957: 5
1958: 5
1959: 6
1960: 6
1961: 6
1962: 5
1963: 7
1964: 6
1965: 5
1966: 3
1967: 4
1968: 4
1969: 4
Average All Stars Per Year: 5 (+ Red Auerbach)
Other Very Good Role Players:
Tom Sanders (1961-1969)
Larry Siegfried (1964-1969)
Don Nelson (1966-1969)
K.C Jones (1959-1967)
Boston Celtics SRS (1957-1969)
Bill Russell's Celtics from 1957 to 1965 were by far the most dominant team in the NBA, being the best team in the NBA by a wide margin in this span with only one or two teams with even a punchers chance of beating them going into the playoffs on a year to year basis, while the other teams were horrible and pretty much had 0 shot, and there were seasons such as 1960, 1962, 1963, and 1965 in which basically no team in the league had a shot at beating them.
It wasn't until 1966 that Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers had a team that rivaled Boston, but this team had been together for a decade and obviously had amazing chemistry and knew how to play together, which matters a lot when two teams are evenly matched as the more experienced team will probably win.
In 1967, Bill Russell's Celtics finally weren't the best team anymore, but they were easily the second best team and very dominant in their own right, but were no match for Wilt and the 76ers.
In 1968, Boston was very much an underdog and wasn't even a top 2 team in the league, yet despite that would beat the best team in the NBA, Wilt's 76ers, in a hard fought 7 game series, and the second best team in the league the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals in 6 games. This was byfar their most impressive title yet.
In 1969, Boston was back to being a top 2 team, second only to the New York Knicks by a slim margin. They would best them in the very first round and go on to win it all.
All in all, this Boston dynasty was incredibly overpowered and puts any other super team to shame with how much it ruined parity for a decade straight. In my opinion, it is the greatest dynasty of all time, not only for it's great individual seasons, but for how long it lasted, and how much better than everyone else they truly were.