Today in Boston Celtics history: Russell, Jones retire; '69 banner, Smith passes
Today in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame franchise legends Bill Russell and Sam Jones ended their NBA and Celtics careers as champions, retiring after winning the 1969 NBA Championship. For Russell, this marked an especially gratifying end, as he triumphed over his longtime rival and close friend, Wilt Chamberlain, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a narrow victory of four games to three in a 108-106 Game 7, an outcome that is widely regarded as one of the most significant upsets in sports history. The Celtics were by then an old team and managed to make the Finals as a four seed, while Los Angeles had Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in addition to Chamberlain, the latter winning the Finals MVP award in a loss, the only time that has happened in the history of the league.
It was Boston’s 11th championship, and that in a span of just 13 years. Russell of course bested Jones’ ten rings with an eleventh, the winningest player all-time in league history. He also won league MVP five times and be elected to a dozen All-Star teams (winning All-Star MVP in 1963), 11 All-NBA teams, and an All-Defense team in 1969 among numerous other honors.
Historic milestones Today in 1981, Larry Bird somehow anticipated a jumper he’d just released would miss its mark, and managed to collect the errant shot and lay it into the hoop while falling out of bounds in Game 1 of the 1981 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. The play was so spectacular, that Celtics general manager Red Auerbach said it was the greatest play he’d ever seen. Boston went on to win the game 98-95 and the series in six games.
Five years later in 1986, “Pistol” Pete Maravich was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Maravich, a legend who came to play for Boston in the twilight of his career, helped a Celtics team with a young Bird play to a 61-21 record, the best in the NBA in the 1979-80 season. He averaged 11.
5 points, 1. 5 rebounds, and 1. 1 assists per game.