The Boston Celtics have won 17 championships in their history, but these five players are the best to never win a ring with the franchise.
The Boston Celtics have won the most championships in NBA history (17), and the list of all-time greats that have played for them is obviously long. Some played all or most of their career as a Celtic (Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce) while others were around long enough to get a ring (Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett).
The Celtics’ last title came in 2008, with the original “Big Three” of Pierce, Garnett and Allen leading the way. Before that, there was a lengthy championship drought, with the 1986 Bird-McHale-Robert Parish, etc. Celtics winning the franchise’s third title in that decade.
In that 32-year gap through the 1990s and 2000s, and in years since 2008, the Celtics have had some good players that may be overlooked.
Here are the five best Boston Celtics to never win a ring with the franchise.
DOWNTOWN JAYLEN BROWN
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5. Ed Macauley
Macauley was the MVP of the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and he was All-Star in all seven of his seasons in Celtics’ green. But he did not win a title until 1958 with the St. Louis Hawks, after being traded there in 1956 for some guy named Bill Russell.
A few modern advanced metrics look fondly on Macauley. In Boston’s franchise history he ranks well in Win Shares Per 48 minutes ( first) and PER (fourth), and in total Win Shares (75.5) he is just outside the franchise’s top-10.
Macauley pre-dated the Celtics’ run in the 1960’s, and he was even traded for the centerpiece of that dynasty. Those things make him easy to forget about, at least until now….