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The Boston Celtics have had some of the most historical teams in NBA history and won the most NBA champions. Even though the team has had fantastic players throughout its history, they have been accompanied by great NBA coaches.
The Celtics were founded in 1946, and in those 75 seasons, they have only hired 18 coaches. Having stable coaching, along with the quality players the Celtics have had, helped them reach franchise success. Here are the top five coaches to ever coach the Boston Celtics.
#5 Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics, 2004-13
Doc Rivers coached the Boston Celtics for nine seasons, spanning from 2004-13. His tenure had the Celtics win a magical 2008 NBA finals, while also reaching the finals in 2010, but losing.
Rivers coached the second-most games for the Boston Celtics, 721, and is the third-most wins. Coaching in so many games helped Rivers’ get higher in the all-time Celtic win totals, as he has the lowest winning percentage on this list, at 57%.
His 2008 NBA Finals is the only one in his career, but it is the most recent Celtics Championship. It was the first Larry O'Brien trophy for the Celtics since 1986, which makes it a meaningful championship.
#4 K.C. Jones, Boston Celtics, 1983-88
K.C. Jones coached 410 games for the Boston Celtics from 1983-88. In Jones's five seasons, he made four NBA Finals, winning two in 1984 and 1986.
Even though he didn't have the longevity with the Celtics as a head coach, going to the NBA Finals four out of his five seasons is impressive. It sure does help when you have a player like Larry Bird on your team, but Jones was still the head man on the bench guiding the team to success.
Jones also ended his tenure with the highest regular-season winning percentage, winning 75% on the games he coached in for the Celtics. For his career, Jones has the third-highest winning percentage out of any NBA coach.
Jones was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame as a coach in 2006, after already getting in as a player.
#3 Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, 1966-69
Bill Russell is one of the best NBA players winning 11 NBA Finals. From 1966-69 he coached 245 games as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, the team he had so much success with as a player.
Russell started off as a player-coach after replacing Red Auerbach after he retired. He maintained success while being a coach and a player, while also being the first African-American head coach in the NBA.
He led the Celtics to two NBA Finals in his three seasons, which they won in back-to-back years from 1968-69. His 162 wins are on the low end of some of Celtics' great coaches, but his success in three seasons plus his player success puts him close to the top of Celtics' head coaches.
Russell has also been elected to the Hall of Fame as a player and head coach.
Also Read: How many rings does Bill Russell have?
#2 Tom Heinsohn Boston Celtics 1969-1978
Tom Heinsohn coached the Boston Celtics right after Russell from 1969-1978, coaching 690 games for the third-most games as a Celtics head coach.
Before winning an NBA Finals in 1974 and 1976, Heinsohn won back-to-back coach of the year awards from 1972-73. Heinsohn is the only coach to win two coach of the year awards, and one of three coaches to win the award.
Heinsohn has the second-most wins, 427 winning 62% of his games as the Celtics head coach. Even though he only led the team to two NBA Finals, he won both. His playoff winning percentage did drop to 59% in 80 games, but his success was good enough to make him a Hall of Fame player and coach.
#1 Red Auerbach, Boston Celtics, 1950-1966
Red Auerbach might be one of the best coaches of all time, winning the second-most NBA Finals in NBA history at nine in 11 Finals appearances.
From 1950 to 1966, Auerbach coached 1,192 games, winning 795 of them. He coached and won the most games for the Boston Celtics as well, winning the most NBA championships for the franchise.
Auerbach started the Celtics dynasty in 1957, and won his nine NBA Finals in a ten-year span, winning eight in a row. He won the 1964-65 coach of the year award.
Auerbach's success is only rivaled by Phil Jackson, who has more final appearances and victories over Auerbach.
After Auerbach’s retirement from coaching, he stayed heavily involved with the Boston Celtics, being General Manager from 1966-86, winning more NBA Finals as an executive.
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