{"id":1471859,"date":"2022-01-25T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1471859"},"modified":"2022-01-25T09:32:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T14:32:04","slug":"larry-bird-heads-the-15-man-boston-celtics-75th-anniversary-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-heads-the-15-man-boston-celtics-75th-anniversary-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Bird Heads the 15-Man Boston Celtics 75th Anniversary Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It's no surprise Larry Bird<\/a> was named as one of the 15 players on the 75th Anniversary All-Celtics Team.<\/a> The Boston Celtics, however, are keeping two-thirds of the team a surprise for now. The Celtics dropped five of the 15 names in no particular order Monday. The next five will be released Monday, Jan. 31, and the final five will be announced via a special live broadcast on Feb. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No surprise Larry Bird makes the first list of names on the Boston Celtics 75th Anniversary Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Larry
A general view of the Boston Celtics logo on the court during a game against the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden on April 4, 2021, in Boston, Massachusetts. | Adam Glanzman\/Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The NBA released its list of top 75 players of all time earlier this season, and the Celtics are doing their own mini version, per Boston Celtics<\/a> in-house reporter Marc D'Amico. Five former Celtics players were named to the 75th Anniversary All-Celtics Team on Monday, with Bird unsurprisingly being one of the five. It was a bit strange how the Celtics began naming their team, rattling off five players in random order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bird was named Monday, Bill Russell was noticeably absent. It doesn't mean he's not one of the top five players in Celtics history. For some reason, the Celtics just decided to name five players in random order and will do the same with the second five next week. Fans and an official panel that included both media members and Celtics historians did the voting, according to D'Amico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining Bird on the first batch of players are his former teammates Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson,<\/a> along with Kevin Garnett and Sam Jones. Bird, McHale, and Johnson were teammates on Boston's title-winning teams in 1984 and 1986. Garnett helped the Celtics to a championship in 2008 after coming to Boston in a trade. Jones is a Hall of Famer <\/a>who won 10 championships and was a five-time All-Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Bird, Russell is a given, leaving nine more spots open. John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Paul Pierce, Tom Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, and Robert Parish figure to have a place on the team. The final three spots should be interesting. K.C. Jones, Don Nelson, JoJo White, Bill Sharman, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Ed Macauley, Ray Allen, and Cedric Maxwell should be in the running for those three spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was Larry Bird or Bill Russell the greatest Boston Celtics player?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Thirty years ago today, Larry Bird joined Bill Russell & Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with 3 straight MVPs. pic.twitter.com\/KYHYAPmo2L<\/a><\/p>— ESPN (@espn) May 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote>