1999–2000 Boston Celtics season 1999–2000 Boston Celtics season The 1999–00 NBA season was the 54th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Celtics signed free agent Calbert Cheaney while acquiring Danny Fortson, and former Celtics forward Eric Williams from the Denver Nuggets. In the third year of the Rick Pitino era, the Celtics played around .500 for the first few months, but then struggled suffering a ten-game losing streak between March and April. Fans and the media began to show their impatience with the struggling franchise, who finished out of the playoffs again with a 35–47 record,
Celtics–Lakers rivalry was actually laid down in college basketball of the late 1970s. During the 1978–79 NCAA season, Michigan State was led by Magic Johnson to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament, where they faced Indiana State University, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Magic Johnson would go on to be drafted by the Lakers, and Larry Bird by the Celtics. The personal rivalry formed by these two basketball greats during college would transfer