The Boston Celtics were formed on June 6, 1946, by Boston Garden-Arena Corporation President Walter A. Brown as a team in the Basketball Association of America, and became part of the National Basketball Association after the absorption of the National Basketball League by the BAA in the fall of 1949. In 1950, the Celtics signed Chuck Cooper, becoming the first NBA franchise to draft a black player.

After the 1955 – 1956 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade. He sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the second overall pick in the draft. After negotiating with the Rochester Royals a negotiation that included a promise that the Celtics owner would send the highly sought after Ice Capades to Rochester if the Royals would let Russell slide to #2, Auerbach used the pick to select University of San Francisco center Bill Russell.

NBA Finals – 1957
The 1957 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1956 – 1957 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1957 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. This was Boston’s first trip to the NBA Finals in their franchise history as well as St. Louis’s. The Celtics won the series over the Hawks, 4-3.

NBA Finals – 1959
The 1959 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1958 – 1959 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1959 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics swept the Lakers 4–0.

NBA Finals – 1960
The 1960 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1960 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1959 – 1960 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. It was Boston’s fourth trip to the NBA Finals and St. Louis’ third. The Celtics beat the Hawks 4-3.

NBA Finals – 1961
The 1961 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1961 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1960 – 1961 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ 5th straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series against the Hawks, 4-1.

NBA Finals – 1962
The 1962 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1962 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1961 – 1962 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ 6th straight trip to the Finals, and they won the best-of-seven series in Game 7, 110-107 in overtime.

NBA Finals – 1963
The 1963 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1963 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1962 – 1963 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ 7th straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series over the Lakers, 4–2.

NBA Finals – 1964
The 1964 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1964 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1963 – 1964 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion San Francisco Warriors and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ 8th straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series over the Warriors, 4-1.

NBA Finals – 1965
The 1965 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1965 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1964 – 1965 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ 9th straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series over the Lakers, 4-1.

NBA Finals – 1966
The 1966 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1966 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1965–66 season. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics faced the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in a best-of-seven series that the Celtics won 4 games to 3.

NBA Finals – 1968
The 1968 NBA World Championship Series pitted the Boston Celtics from the East, against the Los Angeles Lakers from the West, for the sixth time in ten years. The Celtics won their tenth NBA Championship in twelve seasons, by defeating the Lakers in six games. Significantly, Game 6 of the 1968 NBA Finals marked the first time that any NBA competition had taken place during the month of May.

NBA Finals – 1969
The 1969 NBA World Championship Series to determine the champion of the 1968 – 1969 NBA season was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the Lakers being heavily favored due to the presence of three formidable stars: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West. In addition, Boston was an aging team; they made the playoffs as the 4th place team in the Eastern Division, and were not favored to make it to the finals. The Celtics’ finals victory the last championship of the Bill Russell dynasty is considered one of the great upsets in NBA history.

NBA Finals – 1974
The 1974 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association’s 1973 – 1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. John Havlicek was named NBA Finals MVP.

NBA Finals – 1976
The 1976 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association’s 1975 – 1976 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. The series was highlighted by Game 5, a 3-OT victory by Boston. The Celtics won their 13th NBA title, second in the Dave Cowens era. Jo Jo White was named NBA Finals MVP.

NBA Finals – 1981
The 1981 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament which followed National Basketball Association’s 1980 – 1981 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Cedric Maxwell was named NBA Finals MVP.

NBA Finals – 1984
The 1984 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association’s 1983 – 1984 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals MVP.

NBA Finals – 1986
The 1986 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association’s 1985 – 1986 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals MVP for the second time.

The Celtics owned two of the top eight picks in the 1978 NBA Draft. Since the Celtics had two draft choices, Auerbach took a risk and selected junior Larry Bird of Indiana State with the 6th pick, knowing that Bird would elect to remain in college for his senior year. The Celtics would retain his rights for one year a rule that was later changed and Auerbach believed that Bird’s potential would make it worth the wait. Auerbach also felt that when the college season ended the Celtics would have a great chance to sign Bird. Auerbach was right and Bird signed soon after leading Indiana State to the NCAA Championship game, where they fell to a Michigan State University team.

In 1995, the Celtics moved from the Boston Garden to the Fleet Center (later TD BankNorth, then TD Garden).

Construction began on April 29, 1993. Plans for the new arena stated that it would be slightly north of the old facility. The term “slightly north” ended up meaning that there was only nine inches (23 cm) of space between the two buildings when construction was completed. The site for the new arena occupied 3.2 acres (13,000 m2). It eventually cost $160 million. Ground was broken on April 29, 1993. In 27 months, quick by today’s standards, the arena was built. That included seven weeks of delay caused by heavy snowfall. The Shawmut Center opened on September 30, 1995.

NBA Finals – 2008
The 2008 NBA Finals were held June 5 through June 17 of 2008, to decide the winner of the 2007 – 2008 NBA season, and conclude the season’s playoffs. The Boston Celtics, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a best-of-seven series. This was Boston’s first title since 1986 and 17th overall.