Celtics–Knicks rivalry Celtics–Knicks rivalry The Celtics–Knicks rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. The Celtics and Knicks are two of only three remaining charter franchises (the other being the Golden State Warriors) from the inaugural Basketball Association of America, which began operations in 1946. The rivalry mirrors the fierce competition between the Boston and New York City sports teams, as evidenced by the Red Sox–Yankees rivalry and the Jets–Patriots rivalry. Boston and New York City are only 190 miles apart, and both cities' professional sports teams are among the most historic in
Boston Celtics team. FIBA, the body which governs international basketball, has selected two players associated with the Celtics to the FIBA Hall of Fame for contributions to international basketball. The Celtics hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player is ostensibly either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA