#6
The 1985-86 Boston Celtics
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 15-3 (83.3)
Total: 82-18 (82)
Award Winners;
Larry Bird: League MVP, Finals MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, All Star
Dennis Johnson: 2nd Team All-Defense
Kevin McHale: 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Robert Parish: All Star
Bill Walton: Sixth Man of the Year
K.C. Jones: All Star head coach
The Celtics have won seventeen championships and once won eight in a row, so being the greatest Celtics team ever is saying a lot. Like the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship in 1987, this one didn’t come out of nowhere. The Celtics had already won it all in 1981 against the Houston Rockets and in ‘84 against the Lakers. They’d made the Finals in ‘85 and would make them again in ‘87, but lost to the Lakers both times. Like many Celtics teams that decade, the ‘86 squad had four Hall of Famers in the starting five, but it also had a fifth coming in off the bench.
The Celtics were a bad team for a couple years in the late ‘70s, winning just 26 games in ’78-79, before Larry Bird arrived in ‘79-80, making them contenders again. Bird was drafted sixth overall by Boston in 1978 but elected to play one more year of college ball at Indiana State. He led his small school all the way to the NCAA Championship game, but lost to Michigan State, who were led by Magic Johnson. Kevin McHale was drafted in 1980 and Robert Parish was traded to Boston from Golden State as part of that deal. Danny Ainge, who’d played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, came to Boston in ’81-82 and Scott Wedman was traded from Cleveland during ’82-83. Dennis Johnson was traded from Phoenix in 1983. The Sixth Man of the Year in ‘86, Bill Walton, was traded to Boston from the LA Clippers in exchange for forward Cedric Maxwell and a draft pick in 1985. Jerry Sichting was traded from Indiana shortly before the beginning of the season.
One thing that stood out about this team once assembled was how white it was. Eight of the twelve guys on the roster were white, including three of its starting five and all five members of the second unit, also called the Green Team for the green uniforms they wore in practice. That left Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson as the only black players in the regular rotation. This wouldn’t have been unusual twenty years earlier, but the NBA had been predominantly black since the ‘70s. Some people, including me, have speculated that this lineup might’ve been an attempt to appeal to the team’s mostly white fanbase. Greater Boston is pretty white as far as American urban areas go, and Boston has a reputation for hostility towards black people that sadly isn’t unearned. The Boston Red Sox were the last Major League team to employ a black player, in 1959, a dozen years after Jackie Robinson first took the field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. When Bill Russell was living in suburban Boston, his house was broken into, racial slurs were written on his walls and someone even defecated in his bed. All this for a guy who brought the city eleven championships. There were also well-known and sometimes violent protests by mainly Irish-Americans in South Boston over school desegregation during the 1970s. For a city thought of as being liberal, progressive and well-educated, Boston has a noticeable amount racists.
On the other hand, lots of Northern cities, like New York and Chicago (where there was Ku Klux Klan activity during the ‘70s and ‘80s), have had serious racial issues, and it sometimes seems like Boston gets unfairly singled out as a hotbed of bigotry. Another angle is, as Bob Ryan put it, who wouldn’t want players like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Bill Walton on their team? Danny Ainge, Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting were also quality players that most, if not all, NBA teams would’ve been happy to have. Also, the notion that the Celtics were a mostly white team throughout the ‘80s simply isn’t true. In six of those ten seasons, the Celtics were either majority black or had an equal number of black and white players. The Celtics also had a black head coach from 1983 to ‘88, K.C. Jones, who’d played on many of the Celtics dynasty teams of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
That brings me to the biggest reason I doubt there was any weird quasi-racist reasoning behind the racial makeup of the ‘80s Celtics: their personnel moves were still made by Red Auerbach, who’d been with the team since 1950. Red was responsible for drafting Chuck Cooper back in 1950, who was the first black player drafted by an NBA team and one of the first to join the league. Red generally employed more black players than most teams in the ‘50s and ‘60s and was the first coach to send an all-black starting five onto the court in 1964. In 1966, when he stepped down as head coach, he named Bill Russell as his successor, making him the first black head coach in any major North American professional sports league. Although the Celtics’ two best players in the ‘70s (Dave Cowens and John Havlicek) were white, Boston’s teams in that era were predominantly black. I really doubt that Red had a change of heart in the ‘80s and suddenly became a racist. Red making the team whiter not out of racism but to sell more tickets doesn’t make much sense either, as they had great attendance even in years like 1984, when four guys in the starting five were black, as were seven of the twelve players on the roster. Anyway, now that I’ve written over 600 words about race, I guess we can move on.
The Celtics were led throughout the ‘80s by Larry Bird, and 1986 was one of his best overall seasons. The 29 year old small forward was League MVP for the third straight year, averaging 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2 steals on 49.6/42.3/89.6 shooting. 28 year old power forward Kevin McHale became a full time starter that year, with 21.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2 blocks a game while shooting 57.4% from the field. 32 year old center Robert Parish was reliable as always, contributing 16.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on 54.9% shooting. 31 year old point guard Dennis Johnson chipped in 15.6 points and 5.8 assists, and 33 year old center and sixth man Bill Walton averaged 7.6 points on career high 56.2% shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while playing 19.3 minutes a game. It was a rare healthy season for Walton, and the 80 games he played was also a career high. Danny Ainge rounded out the starting five and Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting provided valuable services off the bench.
The league wasn’t ready for a team with that level of high end talent and depth, and the Celtics won 67 games and were practically invincible at home, going 40-1 at the Garden (and sometimes Hartford), and were undefeated there in the playoffs. They were 25-4 in their last 29 games, during which they posted a 14 game winning streak, their longest of the year, in March and April.
In the first round, the Celtics met the 30-52 Chicago Bulls, led by a young Michael Jordan and small forward Orlando Woolridge. Jordan, who’d recently turned 23, missed all but 18 games in the regular season after breaking his foot three games in. He showed no signs of rust however, dropping 49 points on the Celtics in game one. MJ going ham was not a problem though, as the C’s won easily, 123-104, with Bird, McHale, Johnson and Parish combining for 106 points and 30 rebounds. Game two was a high scoring double overtime barn burner, with a possessed Michael Jordan setting a new playoff record by scoring 63 points. He had six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks to go with it, and shot 22 of 41 from the field and made 19 of 21 at the line. Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton fouled out of the game to add to the drama. Once again it wasn’t enough, and the Celtics gutted out a 135-131 win. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 36 points along with 12 rebounds and 8 assists, and Kevin McHale had 27 points, 15 rebounds and blocked 6 shots. He even made a basket while practically laying on his back on top of a Bulls player! It was a crazy game, just look up the highlights on Youtube. In game three, the series shifted to Chicago, where Jordan was comparatively quiet with only 19 points, although he had ten rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a block as well. Like the first game, Boston won easily, 122-104. Kevin McHale was the star that day, putting up 31 points on 15 shots along with five rebounds and a block.
After their sweep of Chicago, the Celtics faced the 50 win Atlanta Hawks, led by Dominique Wilkins. The Celtics won the first two games in Boston comfortably. Game three in Atlanta was closer at 111-107 but the Celtics got the 3-0 lead. The Hawks surprised Boston in game 4 in Atlanta, winning 106-94. Wilkins led all scorers with 37 points and the 5’6, 135 pound point guard Spud Webb put up 21 points and 12 assists. The Celtics were clearly done messing around by game five back in Boston and blew the Hawks out 132-99. In the third quarter, the Celtics completely terrorized the Hawks, outscoring them 36-6. Yes, you read that right. Atlanta’s coach Mike Fratello called timeout after pointless timeout, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Again, just look this quarter up on Youtube. The score after three quarters was 102-61. Larry Bird led the charge with 36 points, ten rebounds and five assists, McHale had 25 points and 3 blocks, and Parish had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.
In the Conference Finals, the Celtics took on the 57 win Milwaukee Bucks, led by Sidney Moncrief and Terry Cummings. Their coach was former Celtic Don Nelson, who’d won five championships in Boston in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Nelson made the mistake of saying he was a better, smarter coach than K.C. Jones before the series, which displeased Robert Parish in particular. Parish had his best game of the playoffs in game three, with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal on 12 of 21 shooting. Game one in Boston was yet another blowout, with the Celtics telling Don Nelson to shove it by a score of 128-96. Bird led the way with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, McHale had 17 points with 5 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Bill Walton scored an efficient 15 points with 9 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. Things never got much better for Milwaukee and the series was another sweep for Boston. Danny Ainge had a great outing in game two, with 23 points on 12 shots, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
History repeated itself a bit in ‘86, as the Houston Rockets unexpectedly bumped off the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals and met the Celtics in the NBA Finals, just like in 1981. The one regret the players from the ‘86 Celtics have is that they didn’t meet the Lakers in the Finals and get their revenge for losing to LA the year before. The ‘86 Rockets were no pushovers, however. They were coached by Bill Fitch, who’d led the Celtics to a championship over Houston five years before and won 51 games in ’85-86. They’d beaten the Lakers in just five games in the Western Finals and were easily the toughest challenge the Celtics faced in the ‘86 playoffs. They were led by two young and very tall players, 23 year old 7’0 center Hakeem Olajuwon and 25 year old 7’4 power forward Ralph Sampson.
The Celtics won the first two games in Boston easily however, blowing out the Rockets 117-95 in game two. Larry Bird filled out the stat sheet with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks on 12 of 19 shooting. Kevin McHale had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks of his own. Dennis Johnson had a great game in game one, with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals on 50% shooting. The series shifted to Houston and the next two games could’ve gone either way, with Houston winning game three by two points and the Celtics winning game four by just three. The Rockets blew the Celtics out though in game five, 111-96. The 7’4 Ralph Sampson got into a physical altercation with 6’1 Jerry Sichting, leading to Sampson being thrown out of the game. Even though one of their best players was off the court, the Houston crowd was fired up by the scuffle and the Rockets came alive and won the game easily. Olajuwon played a great game, with 32 points, 14 rebounds, 8 (eight) blocks and 2 steals. The Celtics were severely pissed off by the embarrassment and took it out on each other in their next practice. K.C. Jones could tell they were ready to end the series and they did so in game six, 114-97. It was a fitting way to end an amazing season, and Larry Bird posted a 29 point triple double with 12 assists and 11 rebounds plus 3 steals and played great defense. Kevin McHale had 29 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Bird won his second Finals MVP, averaging 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.7 steals on 48.2/36.8/93.9 shooting. McHale had a great series too, with 25.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 57.3 from the field and 80.4 at the line.
The Celtics made the Finals again the next year and stayed relevant up through the early ‘90s. Still, age, injuries and two untimely deaths led to a steady decline. Two days after he was taken 2nd overall by the Celtics in the ‘86 draft, University of Maryland star Len Bias died of a freak cocaine overdose. We’ll never know what he could’ve done in the NBA, but it’s been said that Bias could’ve been right up there with Michael Jordan and might’ve been the LeBron James of his era. Scott Wedman was forced to retire due to injuries after playing just six games in ‘86-87 season. Bill Walton suffered more tortuous foot injuries and played only the last ten games in ‘87 plus twelve in the playoffs, and at very limited minutes. He hoped to return for the ‘88 season, but never played again after the ‘87 Finals. Jerry Sichting was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988, as was Danny Ainge to the Sacramento Kings in ‘89. K.C. Jones stepped down after the ‘88 season and Dennis Johnson retired in 1990 at age 35. Larry Bird did the same in 1992, as did Kevin McHale in ‘93.
Bird’s back problems began in 1985 when he injured himself off the court, carrying gravel while working on his mother’s driveway back home in Indiana. He missed almost the entire ‘89 season due to foot surgery, then missed large portions of ‘91 and ‘92 as his back continued to deteriorate. He was still in all star form when he could play, but he knew when enough was enough. Kevin McHale broke his foot in March of ‘87 and continued to play on it all the way through the NBA Finals. ‘87 was McHale’s peak year, and he continued to play very well up through ‘91, but was never the same after playing on that foot for months when it should’ve been healing.
The Celtics drafted the excellent two-way shooting guard Reggie Lewis in 1987, and he made the All Star game in 1992, but Lewis died of a congenital heart defect during the 1993 off-season. The team seemed to go from the luckiest in the NBA to the most unfortunate. Robert Parish signed with the Charlotte Hornets in 1994 and was the last member of that ‘86 team to leave Boston. In 1996 he signed with the Chicago Bulls and won his fourth championship with them in 1997, after which he retired at age 43. Parish still holds the NBA record for games played at 1,611. The Celts would miss the playoffs in 1994 for the first time since 1979, and every year from 1996 to 2001, before Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker finally dragged them back into respectability.
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