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#TBT – Boston Celtics 1959 Championship

By Joshua Bateman

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Last week we looked at the very beginning of the greatest dynasty in the history of sports. This week we will be looking at the beginning of the greatest consecutive championship run ever by the Boston Celtics.

1958 was not just the beginning for the team’s dynasty as it was also the beginning of one of the greatest careers ever in Bill Russell.

Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Boston Celtics former center Bill Russell in attendance during the 2013 NBA all star shooting stars competition at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Russell had an immediate impact in his first season but it was during his second championship run when he really started to separate himself from the mere mortals that played around him.

Russell saw a scoring increase as he managed to put up 16.7 points per game. Russell was still behind his fellow hall of famers as Bill Sharman led the team with 20.4 points per game , followed by Bob Cousy with 20 points per game and then Tom Heinsohn with 18.8 points per game.

There is no denying the complete physical domination by Russell as he averaged a mind blowing 23 rebounds per game, with not a single other player on the team managing to get even 10 per game.

It was only a matter of time before people realized that the NBA was Bill Russell’s world and everyone else was just living in it.

The Celtics’ first championship with a seven game marathon, featuring two double overtimes and what remains to this day as one of the greatest championship series of all time.

They took a one year hiatus as they lost to the Hawks in 1958 but then in 1959 the Celtics truly asserted their will on the rest of the league.

If 23 rebounds per game is not enough to blow your mind then Russell’s 27.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs surely will. Russell’s average night would be a career day for most guys as his unbelievable physical advantage over the rest of the league was truly a marvel.

Russell did see his scoring go down in the playoffs as he only averaged 15.5 points per game but plenty others picked up the slack on the scoring front. Cousy, Heinsohn and Sharmer were all around 20 points per game but it was Frank Ramsey who took over with 23 points per game. The Celtics had 5 players all averaging over 15 points per game and it is no wonder that the Minnesota Lakers were out of their league when they were swept by the Celtics.

Bill Russell did not need to score much in the championship series as Heinsohn, Ramsey and Sharman all averaged over 22 points per game but Russell was even more blatantly dominant on the boards. Russell averaged over 29 rebounds per game and no that is not a typo, Russell did things that should not and could not be done by anyone else in the NBA.

The Celtics completed a series sweep, never failing to score at least 118 points. The series did have some drama within the games as both game one and game four were decided by 5 points or less.

No one could have predicted the kind of run that the Celtics were about to go on but they were starting to show signs of the kind of dominance that never has been and never again will be seen in any professional sport.

Bill Russell was only scratching the surface of what he was going to accomplish but here is a little more context to understand what kind of a force Russell was in just his third season.

Not only did Russell rebound at a rate that at times seems fake, he almost managed to secure more rebounds than anyone scored points. Russell finished that postseason with 305 total rebounds and that is not so far behind Baylor’s playoff leading 331 points.  Baylor also happened to be second in total rebounding, but second does not do Russell’s dominace justice as Baylor only pulled in a total of 156 rebounds.

in 1959 the Boston Celtics were on the verge or achieving what players do not even dream of anymore as their accomplishments are the single greatest achievement in professional sports.

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