History of the Boston Celtics History of the Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. Founded in 1946 as a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, the Celtics then moved into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949, as said league was formed by the merger of the BAA merged with the National Basketball League. Currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, the Celtics have the most NBA titles with 17 championships. Eleven of those occurred between 1957 and 1969, with a dynasty led by center Bill Russell and coach/general manager Red Auerbach.
Original Celtics fourth place, while first-half winner Cleveland slumped badly to fifth place. Cleveland’s fall was precipitated by the hasty mid-season departure of star Honey Russell, who was exiled to Chicago after a disagreement with team owner Max Rosenblum. The Celtics easily disposed of the weakened Cleveland team in three straight games to take the ABL championship. In 1926, the American Basketball League, developed by sports entrepreneur George Preston Marshall, effectively railroaded the team into joining its ranks by prohibiting member teams from playing against them. The Original Celtics responded by winning the next two ABL titles. During their first full season