10 most impressive sports streaks of all time

4. Boston Celtics 8 Consecutive NBA Championships (1959-66)

Yes, I’m fully aware that the Boston Celtics with Bill Russell played in a time where the NBA was far from what the league has become. There were exponentially fewer teams in the league as a whole, the ABA merger had yet to occur, and the level of overall competition simply wasn’t at a high level. These are all valid arguments that deserve consideration in this conversation.

But even then, winning eight-straight championships in any capacity is something that shouldn’t be possible, yet the Celtics made it so.

After winning the title in the 1956-57 season, the Celtics fell to the Hawks the following year, despite Russell having an MVP season to his credit. However, they wouldn’t know what losing a playoff series felt like for eight years after that. Boston went on a tear the likes of which we will never see again in the NBA.

Despite being in the same league as the great Wilt Chamberlain, Russell and the Celtics were wholly dominant for nearly a decade. They never won fewer than 50 games in a season with a low total of 52 coming in the 1958-59 season. Perhaps what makes it more impressive and eliminates some of the arguments about level of competition invalid is the Celtics weren’t just rolling over everyone in the postseason. Over the course of their eight consecutive NBA Championships, the Celtics only swept one series (the 1959 NBA Finals over the Lakers). They were taken to the brink many times and still managed to overcome and become champions. So take your arguments elsewhere; the Celtics deserve the No. 4 spot on this list.