Celtics hater power rankings: Which teams should Celtics fans be rooting against?

Every season, only one team can win the NBA Championship. Only a few even enter the year with legitimate hopes to be in the mix. Whether it be tanking or competing for a low-seeded playoff appearance, the rest are left to find their own motivations throughout the campaign.

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Boston Celtics are assumed to be amongst the rest. Sure, they could surprise some people and outperform their mediocre expectations, but it just feels like they’re primed for a down year after so much roster turnover this summer. Losing key pieces like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Jayson Tatum, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, is tough to recover from on the fly.

To be completely honest, a season void of the pressure that accompanies expectations of greatness may be a breath of fresh air for many fans, as spoiled or insane as that may sound. Enjoying whatever the 2025-26 season has in store for the Celtics without being overly worried about the outcome should be a fun ride.

As many learned back in May, when the Indiana Pacers upset the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, the ride can get even more fun when you embrace the Hate (or Thank) Watch. Taking pride in watching the teams you despise crumble just hits a little different.

Which fanbase’s tears taste the best, you might ask? Well, Hardwood Houdini has you covered.

I’ve taken the time to rank all 29 other franchises from most to least likable. Things like old rivalries, newer grudges, familiar faces in new places, recent storylines, and personal bias all factored in here.

I did this a few years ago, but enough has changed since then for the list to shuffle a bit. Plus, this time, we’ll be breaking the league into different tiers.

Jump Ahead:

1. 29-27: Thank you for your service
2. 26-22: The Easy to Root For Teams
3. 21-16: The Abyss of Indifference
4. 15-13: The Mile of Mild Distaste
5. 12-10: The Weird, Justified Grudge Section
6. 9 & 8: I Simply Can’t Root For Their Success at This Point
7. 7-4: Rogues Gallery
8. 3-1: The Worst of the Worst

29-27: Thank you for your service

29: The Portland Trail Blazers

Portland? As the most likable team??

Yeah, that’s where I landed this year, at least from a Celtics perspective.

First and foremost, having two former beloved Celtics on the roster makes the Blazers an easy team to root for. Jrue Holiday and Robert Williams III are awesome. Holiday was incredibly selfless during his time in Boston. He joined the team late in the 2023 offseason and immediately bought into playing a much smaller role than he’d previously had with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Holiday was incredible throughout the 2024 playoffs, too. He had a great Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers and then shined with a huge Game 2 in the NBA Finals.

Williams was a human highlight reel at his peak with Boston. Alley-oops, loud blocks, great vibes; he did it all. Unfortunately, he hasn’t really been healthy since he was traded for Holiday, appearing in just 26 games over two seasons.

Not to mention how both players got to where they are. Portland spent the summer of 2023 batting away the Miami Heat’s (we’ll get to the much, much later) mediocre trade offers for Damian Lillard, before eventually sending Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks and rerouting Holiday to Boston.

Plus, the Blazers have a fun, young, defensive-minded core that’s easy to root for as is.

28. The San Antonio Spurs

There’s no ill-will towards Luke Kornet after he elected to leave Boston for a four-year, $41 million contract from the San Antonio Spurs. Kornet, like Holiday, was an awesome Celtic during his time in Boston.

The big man worked his way from the G-League to a rotation spot on last season’s 61-win Celtics squad. By all accounts, he was a great teammate and morale booster in the locker room.

It’ll be incredibly easy to root for him as he backs up French sensation Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. Wemby, by the way, seems to be all class. By that I mean, he’s a quiet guy with tons of talent, who, most importantly, hasn’t had any monster performances against the Celtics just yet.

Oh, and the Spurs traded the Celtics Derrick White for Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson (who was a fun player while he was here), a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2028 first-round swap. Not a bad price for an All-Defensive guard who’s become a fan-favorite over the past few seasons.

27. The Atlanta Hawks 

Atlanta rounds out the “Thank you for your service” tier of these rankings, thanks to Kristaps Porzingis. Boston dealt Porzingis to the Hawks back in June as part of their quest to avoid the dreaded second-apron. The move helped the Cs achieve their financial goal and set Atlanta up to be a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, IF they stay healthy.

Health was always the big question mark with KP. The cherry on top came in his final act with the Celtics, when a lingering illness essentially drained him of all of his basketball abilities in the 2025 playoffs. It was a sad way to see the fan-favorite’s time in Boston come to an end, which everyone knew was happening due to the aforementioned cap goals.

Though some fans feel scorned by the timing of his flare-up, Porzingis will still be easy to root for with the Hawks. He and star point guard Trae Young should combine for a nasty pick-and-roll combination, which should make Atlanta’s young core fun to watch.

To be clear, the Hawks are my least favorite in this tier because they’ve been an annoying opponent over the past few seasons. In 2023, their first-round series against the Cs went two games too long. About 18 months later, they served as Boston’s foil in the league’s most prestigious competition, the NBA Cup, serving the reigning champs a crucial loss in the group stage.

26-22: The Easy to Root For Teams

26. The Detroit Pistons

The OGs and oldheads are going to hate this ranking. I’d like to begin the section by apologizing to them. It’d be unfair to ignore the battles between the Larry Bird-led Celtics and Bad Boy Detroit Pistons of the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Bird and Pistons center Bill Laimbeer still have beef to this day.

Any sort of Celtics-Pistons rivalry has cooled off significantly since then. The two teams have only met in the playoffs twice, in 2002 and 2008, with Boston winning both series. My generation of Celtics fans has no significant ill will towards the Pistons, and I’m sorry for that.

I’m even more sorry that the current Detroit squad is awesome. Last season, they more than tripled their franchise-low win total from the year prior, and snuck into the playoffs as the sixth seed. They put up an incredible fight against the New York Knicks before eventually falling in six games.

I didn’t love their offseason and am not sure how much, if any, of a leap they’ll take this year, but Cade Cunningham will be an extremely fun watch. If he, along with his other young Pistons teammates, continues to develop, then there’s real reason to believe that they’ll be able to compete in a weaker Eastern Conference this year.

With the Celtics sort of stuck between being good and bad, the Pistons are a perfect underdog team to root for if things go poorly in Boston.

25. The Indiana Pacers

Speaking of the perfect team to root for when things go poorly in Boston, the Indiana Pacers saved my spring. After watching Jayson Tatum tear his Achilles tendon while the Celtics prematurely crashed out of the playoffs at the hands of the New York Knicks, we all needed something.

Boy, did the Pacers have something for us.

Their heroic Eastern Conference Finals win over the Knicks not only prevented New York from making their first trip to the NBA Finals in a quarter century, but also made for great theater (See hate watch highlights at the top of these rankings).

There’s been a weird mutual respect between Indiana and Boston’s fanbases since the two met in the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals. Celtics fans felt the Pacers were the best team that the Cs crossed paths with en route to Banner 18, and Pacers fans appreciated that.

That bond has been strengthened through a mutual hatred of the Knicks and their fans, and the trauma that comes along with seeing your superstar tear an Achilles on the big stage. Tyrese Haliburton’s season-ending injury came as he started Game 7 of the Finals with three straight triples.

There’s probably nothing more heartbreaking than what could’ve happened to him or the fanbase that night.

Whatever outcome, tanking or contention, that Indy fans are hoping for this season -- I’ll be rooting for it.

Oh, and they’ve got some Celtics’ representation too, with Aaron Nesmith, who started his career in Boston earlier this decade, and head coach Rick Carlisle, who played here back in the 1980s.

#Respect.

24. The Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets would find themselves in the abyss of indifference if it weren’t for the Celtics' representation in their coaching staff. Head coach Charles Lee was a high-ranking assistant on the 2024 NBA Championship team, and he took many familiar faces with him when he signed on for the job in Charlotte.

Drew Peterson, who spent the last two seasons with Boston, joined Lee and Co. with the Hornets this summer.

Aside from that, there isn’t much to say about Charlotte. They’ve been mediocre to bad for so long that there isn’t anything Celtics-related to hold a grudge about. Maybe that’s mean, but I’ll be rooting for them to finally make a little noise and push towards a Play-In Tournament appearance this year.

23. The Utah Jazz

I probably could’ve lumped the Utah Jazz into the Hornets section. Both mediocre, both have some sort of purple in their uniforms, both have low expectations heading into this season, and both have Celtics’ representation.

Of course, with Utah, I’m talking about Danny and Austin Ainge. The father-son duo spent years working in Boston’s front office, with Danny serving as President of Basketball Operations and Austin working in scouting.

Both played a role in building many of the teams Celtics fans have enjoyed watching for the past 20+ years.

Plus, they took on Georges Niang’s salary this summer and helped Boston get below the dreaded second apron. Niang, by the way, got way too much hate during his mid-summer tenure with the Celtics, so I’ll be rooting for him as a fellow New Englander.

They’re higher in these power rankings than Charlotte solely because they (probably unknowingly) helped facilitate the Luka Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers back in February.

22. The Denver Nuggets

Congratulations to the Denver Nuggets for being the most likable contender in the NBA! 

It’s pretty remarkable that Denver has been a powerhouse for pretty much this entire decade without doing anything vile to the Celtics. Sure, they were the only franchise that the 2024 championship team failed to beat en route to Banner 18, but that pain was only temporary.

Nikola Jokic is one of the most fun stars in the league to watch. He’s consistently slinging passes all over the court and setting his teammates up with easy looks. Basically, Jokic is the definition of “honorable hoops.”

No foul-baiting, just buckets.

Since the beginning of Denver’s rise to contention, they’ve pretty much done nothing but beat up on the Lakers, which is always going to earn them some respect in this corner of the country. The Nuggets have been responsible for two (2) “maybe I’ll retire” press conferences from LeBron James, as he tried to take attention away from L.A.’s playoff shortcomings vs. Denver.

As they say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

21-16: The Abyss of Indifference

Before I get into this next group of teams, let me say that this might be the most offensive section to be a part of. I don’t like these teams. I don’t dislike them. I frankly do not care about them. They have done next to nothing to even remind me that they exist over the past few seasons.

I’d recommend listening to Childish Gambino’s “Lithonia” (NSFW) as you read through this tier of teams.

21: The New Orleans Pelicans

Our favorite of the bunch is the New Orleans Pelicans. There isn’t really a great reason for this. The only thing that separates them from some of these others is that they’ve got 2024 NBA Champion Jaden Springer on their roster (for now). I always liked Springer during his time in Boston. I thought he played hard and had potential as a pesky defensive guard.

I’ll be rooting for him to find a place in the NBA with New Orleans.

On a more sour note, Jordan Poole is very easy to root against. The former Golden State Warriors guard hit some big shots against Boston in the 2022 NBA Finals and has a cockiness about him that just rubs me (and Draymond Green, apparently) the wrong way.

As for the rest of the squad, the feeling is pretty neutral. Zion Williamson is cool, but he’s rarely healthy. Although he lost a ton of weight this offseason, so maybe he’ll be durable, who knows?

20: The Phoenix Suns

It’s officially rebuild time for the Phoenix Suns. The franchise finally hit the self-destruct button on its “big three” of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal this summer, after just two seasons. It was an experiment that was always poised to fail, considering that the Suns gutted their depth to bring the trio together under the direction of owner Mat Ishbia.

Now that Beal and Durant (one of my personal favorite non-Celtics of all time) are gone, Phoenix’s fan base can watch Booker’s prime waste away next to Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.

Ishbia’s over-urgency to build a contender immediately after buying the Suns created a lot of angst in Boston when reports of the Grousbeck family’s decision to sell their stake in the Celtics surfaced. Many worried that whoever would be at the helm next would force near-sighted “win-now” moves in the same way Ishbia did when he took over in the desert.

Instead, it seems Bill Chisholm is committed to building a sustainable contender in Boston, which is a plus.

19. The Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings fans are one of the most tortured groups in professional sports. They’ve seen their team make one playoff appearance since 2006, and even that ended in a first-round exit. Combine their lack of success with the fact that they only play the Celtics twice per season, and you get the definition of apathy.

The only real grudge to hold against Sacramento, which I mentioned the last time I did this, is that they decided to have their best season (aside from 2022-23) in 2018-19 -- the year that Boston held their first-round pick.

Instead of picking towards the top of a draft with Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, the Cs wound up at the end of the lottery.

That’s pretty rude of the Kings, if you ask me.

18. The Chicago Buls

It’s ironic that the Chicago Bulls follow the Kings in this list, considering that Sacramento has essentially reassembled the mediocre Bulls core of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

Despite being Play-In Tournament regulars since its conception, the Bulls have avoided playing high-seeded Celtics teams in the playoffs for the past several seasons. If anything, there’s some pity here because Boston has deliberately beaten up on the Bulls in the final group stage game in each of the first two NBA Cup competitions.

Who could forget Joe Mazzulla instructing his players to intentionally foul Andre Drummond while up 32 points, so the Celtics could rack up point differential for a possible tie-breaker?

We’re so far removed from the competitive playoff series in 2009 and 2017 that there’s not even any real spite to hold anymore.

17. The Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the only teams in this tier to have actually been a worthy adversary for the Celtics recently. From 2019-2022, the rivalry was real.

Kyrie Irving’s betrayal of Boston in favor of teaming up with KD in Brooklyn made for some heated matchups during the duo’s time there. Ultimately, the two teams split a pair of playoff series in 2021 and 2022, before both Irving and Durant were traded in February of 2023.

Since then, there’s been nothing to the Nets or their standing as a Celtics rival. They’ve plummeted into sadness like the rest of these teams and project to be one of the worst in the East this season.

I guess if you want a reason to dislike them now, Michael Porter Jr. has epitomized why not everyone needs to have a microphone in front of them.

16. The Toronto Raptors

Life comes at you fast in the NBA. It’s wild that the bubble playoffs, the last time that the Toronto Raptors meant anything to the Celtics, were five years ago already. Toronto would, much like Brooklyn, likely be in the next tier if their roster hadn’t changed so much over the past few seasons.

The unlikeable likes of Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell, and even head coach Nick Nurse have all moved on, leaving me no one to focus my disdain on.

If there’s anything to be annoyed at with the Raptors, it’d have to be the leaks of the “trade talks” they had with the Celtics for Derrick White earlier this year. Those leaks clearly weren’t coming from Boston’s side, so there’s really only one place where they could’ve originated.

None of us needed to be worrying about White joining Porzingis and Holiday as a cap casualty. So, thanks a lot, Toronto.

15-13: The Mile of Mild Distaste

15. The Washington Wizards

WHOA.

How did a team that’s been an absolute bottom-feeder for the past several seasons avoid the abyss of apathy??

It’s pretty simple. They really mishandled having Marcus Smart on their team for his half-season in the nation’s capital.

Washington made their lone trip to TD Garden back on April 6. There was a unique buzz in the building as there is anytime a beloved Celtic is set to return to the parquet. Fans even broke out into “We want Marcus” chants in anticipation of seeing Smart take the floor against his former team.

That didn’t happen.

The Wizards did not play Smart. They sat him. They determined before the game that they would sit him.

What a lame, loser move by a loser franchise.

To make matters worse, they bought Smart out of the final year of his contract this past summer. The news was fun for all of ten minutes. Celtics fans had a brief chance to dream of a reunion before it was reported that Smart agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

This is, perhaps, the worst timeline.

Thanks a lot, Wizards.

14. The Minnesota Timberwolves

Sadly, I have to rank the Minnesota Timberwolves in the top half of these rankings during what’s been their franchise’s peak. They’ve made it to back-to-back Western Conference Finals and should be competitive in the West once again this year.

That’s sort of the problem.

During a stretch where Tatum and Brown have been criticized so frequently in the media, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has gotten nothing but praise, despite achieving less. I don’t even personally have beef with him. I like Anthony Edwards!

However, I’m a man of the people. I know plenty of Celtics fans who don’t care for Antman’s anointment as the next face of the league, despite not even making an NBA Finals to this point. I have to back my guys.

On a more positive note, the Wolves are bringing back their Kevin Garnett-era throwbacks and it rules.

13. The Houston Rockets

There’s really only one reason why the Houston Rockets find themselves so high up on this list -- maybe two if you don’t like Kevin Durant. For me, personally, Durant is cool.

Ime Udoka is not. The former Celtics coach ended up in Houston following his ugly exit from Boston after just one season in charge of the Cs.

An internal investigation found that he "used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship with the woman," per former ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

That alone is solid grounds to root against him. If you need more motivation, there’s also a weird contingent of Celtics fans who feel like Joe Mazzulla, who holds the highest winning percentage in NBA history, hasn’t been able to fill Udoka’s shoes.

Any success that Udoka and the Rockets have is going to make those people feel more justified.

Aside from him, Houston is a pretty fun team. They’ve got some intriguing young talent and are looking to build off an impressive 2024-25 season.

12-10: The Weird, Justified Grudge Section

12. The Memphis Grizzlies

Recency bias has the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that was so easy to root for in the past, in the top 12 of these new rankings.

It’s simple, really.

Memphis dumped Marcus Smart in a deadline deal with the Washington Wizards back in February. I get wanting to move money around, but last year’s Wizards team was a cruel spot to send the former Celtics guard. He spent the back half of the season rotting away at the bottom of the East.

Of course, we all know how that ended, as laid out earlier in this piece.

Then, over the summer, the Grizzlies traded away Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic and received Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as part of the return.

Celtics fans will remember Caldwell-Pope embracing a villain role during Boston’s first-round playoff series against the Magic in the spring.

He knocked down Jayson Tatum with a flagrant foul in Game 1, then got into a dust-up with Al Horford in Game 2.

He embraced the boos in Boston, but wasn’t able to deliver on the scoreboard. KCP had an awful Game 2, scoring just 3 points on 1-9 from the field after getting into it with Big Al.

Wishing him the worst in Memphis

11. The Cleveland Cavaliers

If you want to talk about spite, look no further. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the best team, record-wise, in the Eastern Conference last season. Though they spent the year racking up wins, they always felt fraudulent.

Once the playoffs rolled around, that feeling was proven correct. Cleveland went crashing out in the second round, falling to the Indiana Pacers in just five games.

Yes, the Celtics suffered a similar fate, but the fact that many felt the Cavs were on the same level as the reigning champs was infuriating.

Anyway, now, the Cavaliers are facing a make-or-break season. They’re the only team currently above the second-apron threshold, according to Spotrac, and have to make their spending count. From a Celtics perspective, fans should want this team to crash and burn.

The fanbase spent the entire summer watching their roster be torn limb from limb because of the harsh penalties that come along with spending over the second apron. It was a sour, painful experience.

Watching it happen to other teams, however, will be sweet. If Cleveland comes up short this season, it’ll be difficult for the front office to justify keeping such a hefty payroll. Not only will this be good for Boston from a “The East gets weaker” perspective, but also perhaps from a team-building point of view.

What if the Celtics can swoop in and capitalize on a potential fire-sale in Cleveland?

10. The Dallas Mavericks

It’s pretty tough for a team to make me dislike them when they only play the Celtics twice a year, but the Dallas Mavericks have done it. Yes, they met Boston in the NBA Finals back in 2024, but they were just another team in the way. There was nothing special about them.

Of course, getting to see the Celtics beat Kyrie Irving on the big stage was a lot of fun. His back-and-forths with the TD Garden crowd have been quite heated since he left town in 2019. “Kyrie sucks,” chants, middle fingers, and more have made the beef extra spicy.

The ill-will towards him isn’t quite at the level it once was, especially after Boston beat the Mavs in the Finals, but Irving is still an easy guy to root against in Dallas.

He stepped on Lucky, after all.

Though Kyrie isn’t quite the villain he once was, the Mavericks have managed to remain unlikable for one simple reason. They essentially gave the Lakers a Luka Doncic lifeline for free. The NBA world came to a halt back in February when news broke of Doncic’s trade to L.A.

No one would’ve ever expected that Dallas would offload their franchise guy, but they did it. And they did it for cheap. Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick is all it cost the league’s luckiest franchise.

No one gets more breaks than the Lakers. Shame on Dallas for facilitating this one.

Not only did the Mavs make this monstrosity of a deal, but they were rewarded for it. If you believe in conspiracies, then you probably think the league rigged the lottery to give Dallas the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, as compensation for gifting its most valuable franchise a lifeline.

I’ll be happy to root against the Mavs in most games in hopes that Cooper Flagg gets fed up and comes home in five years.

9 & 8: I Simply Can’t Root For Their Success at This Point

9. The LA Clippers

A few months ago, the LA Clippers would’ve been far lower on this list. They’re a rival to the Lakers, have had plenty of ex. Celtics pass through (Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, etc.), and super-cool uniforms.

Unfortunately, this whole Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention thing has left me no choice but to root against them. If the accusations are true, then Leonard and the Clippers used a tree-planting company to put additional money in the superstar forward’s pockets.

What do I care?

Well, I probably wouldn’t if I hadn’t just watched the Celtics self-destruct their roster to avoid financial penalties. I’d probably be impressed that they’d found a way to pay Kawhi some extra money, but, under these circumstances, I have to root for the league to put the hammer down on the organization. If Boston had to prematurely blow up a championship roster, then the Clippers should have to cough up every draft pick they have as punishment for this alleged scandal.

Plus, back in 2023, the Clips got cold feet and pulled out of the original Kristaps Porzingis trade, which would’ve netted them Malcolm Brogdon. Instead, Boston had to scramble to find a new partner in the Grizzlies, who wound up wanting Smart in the deal.

Pretty nasty work, if we’re being honest.

8. The Oklahoma City Thunder

Last season, the Celtics failed to become the first repeat champions since the Golden State Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. There’s no way that I can sit back quietly and watch the Oklahoma City Thunder accomplish the elusive feat.

The Thunder aren’t particularly unlikeable as a team, but some of the narratives surrounding their core can be a bit annoying. This is pretty similar to the Timberwolves section of this, where Anthony Edwards got a lot of praise for doing less than Jayson Tatum did, except with OKC, it's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Now, it’d be pretty wild to come on here and act like Shai didn’t just win an MVP, but even before last season, the national media was throwing parades for a guy who hadn’t made a conference finals.

Can you imagine what it’ll be like if the Thunder go back-to-back?

I’d prefer not to.

7-4: Rogues Gallery

7. The Milwaukee Bucks

Typically, the Milwaukee Bucks would be slightly higher on this list, but they’ve had a rough few years. After three consecutive first-round exits, maybe they deserve a break, right?

Milwaukee’s recent era of success ran parallel to Boston’s, so the two teams crossed paths in the playoffs a few different times, with the Celtics winning two of the three matchups. Most recently, the 2022 meeting in the Eastern Conference Semifinals was a seven-game classic.

Of course, it’s only a classic considering that the Celtics came out on top, thanks to a massive Game 7 from Grant Williams.

It’s funny. Now both teams are in a similar spot. No real expectations, but still hopes of being somewhat competitive. Maybe they’re due for a run-in in the Play-In Tournament in mid-April.

Regardless, there just won’t be the same juice now that the Bucks have lost almost all of their 2021 championship core. Even Giannis Antetokounmpo could be on the outs, with rumors swirling in the weeks leading up to opening week in the NBA.

With that in mind, maybe it’s best if they overachieve a bit this year, so he doesn’t end up joining a more menacing Eastern Conference foe.

6. The Miami Heat

Boston’s rivalry with the Miami Heat now spans two separate eras. It began in the early 2010s when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. He, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh went to battle with the Celtics’ aging Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Nearly a decade later, the Jimmy Butler-led Heat emerged as an unassuming rival for the current Celtics core. The two sides met in three of four Eastern Conference Finals from 2020-2023, and then in the 2024 first round. Though Miami has consistently been the peskiest rival for the Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown Celtics, they’ve never quite seemed like an insurmountable threat -- which made them that much more annoying.

Each time the two met in the playoffs, I felt that the Celtics would win. Well, they only won half of the, leaving two trips to the NBA Finals on the board.

Head Coach Erik Spoelstra and President Pat Reilly have bridged the gap between both eras of Heat-Celtics beef. Reilly, in particular, has been a thorn in Boston’s side since he was the head coach of the Showtime Lakers back in the 1980s.

He may actually be the GOAT of Celtics villains.

For that, he, Spoelstra, and the now Butler-less Heat can rot.

5. The Golden State Warriors

Speaking of Jimmy Butler, he now plays his basketball in San Francisco for the Golden State Warriors. He, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and… Al Horford will all join forces this season to try and compete in a loaded Western Conference.

The only real beef Boston and Golden State have directly is their meeting in the 2022 NBA Finals. A series that began in such a promising fashion is painfully burned into the back of Celtics fans’ brains forever. The Cs were minutes away from a commanding 3-1 series lead when Curry lit TD Garden on fire. From that moment on, the Warriors maintained complete control of the series en route to their fourth NBA Championship in eight seasons.

Butler being added to the mix back at February’s trade deadline, adds some extra vitriol for many Celtics fans, too.

Not to mention the sheer pain of seeing Horford head west this summer with hopes of competing for another NBA title -- something he would’ve never dreamed of doing if it weren’t for Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear.

To be fair, you can’t really blame Horford here. He’s only got a few seasons left and probably doesn’t want to waste one of them fighting for the Play-In Tournament.

The Warriors, as a team, have been pretty polarizing for many basketball fans, as well. Anytime a franchise sustains success to the level that they did, people are going to turn and root against them. It’s just sort of how it goes.

4. The Orlando Magic

Yes, the Orlando Magic have a catchy song that they like to post to social media every time they win. They’ve also been mediocre to bad for so long that it may be surprising to see them ranked this close to the top of these hater rankings.

Listen, last season’s playoff series earned them a lot of ire from me.

Typically, series that only last five games aren’t all that memorable in the NBA. That should’ve been the case when the defending champion Celtics met a young Magic team in the first round back in the spring. It wasn’t.

Instead, Orlando went down swinging, literally (sort of).

As mentioned during the Grizzlies section of this piece, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s scrapiness and aggression got under many players’ skin. It wasn’t just him, though. The entire Magic team established a hard-nosed, physical identity at Boston’s expense.

The physicality that the Magic brought into the series resulted in a Jayson Tatum wrist injury, a Kristaps Porzingis gash to the head, and plenty of complaints about lax officiating from the Celtics.

Or, in other words, they made a juggernaut Celtics team look mortal. They proved that it was possible to push them around and make them uncomfortable despite their surplus of talent. Ultimately, this was one of the things that led to Boston’s second-round exit. The New York Knicks knew how to get to them.

So, now that Orlando is projected to be one of the East’s better teams, it’s time to start hating in full force.

3-1: The Worst of the Worst

3. The Philadelphia 76ers

Aside from having the best song in the NBA, there is absolutely nothing to like about the Philadelphia 76ers.

Okay, maybe the fact that they never beat the Celtics makes them a bit more sympathetic, but they’re undoubtedly a top-three all-time rival for Boston. To put it into perspective, if I were a 76ers blogger or writer making this type of list, the Celtics would for sure be No. 1.

The Cs have brought the Sixers absolutely nothing but pain since 1982, the last time Philly beat Boston in a playoff series. Since then, the Celtics have bested the 76ers in six straight postseason meetings.

Three of which have come in the last seven years. Most recently, the Sixers were one win away from finally ending the Celtics’ reign of dominance, but couldn’t get the job done. They dropped Game 6 at home, then came up to TD Garden and had Jayson Tatum set a Game 7 scoring record against them.

The Boston-Philly rivalry is as alive as it’s been since it was Larry Bird and Dr. J (Julius Erving) in the 1980s. Yes, it’s been one-sided, but there’s serious vitriol on both sides. 

2. The New York Knicks

Recency bias almost got me to move the New York Knicks to No. 1 on this list, but I just couldn’t justify it.

Even before the spring, when the Celtics inexplicably blew back-to-back 20-point leads at home to dig their own playoff grave against the Knicks, New York was one of my least favorite NBA franchises. 

First and foremost, their fans are some of the most diabolical, entitled, and insufferable people on the planet. They support a franchise that is so devoid of success that they’ve got absolutely no clue how to behave anytime something actually goes their way. Knicks fans throw a championship parade in the streets of Manhattan every time they win even a single playoff game -- it’s pathetic.

These people also love to play both sides of the fence. Sometimes they’ll pretend like they’re this prestigious, decorated franchise with a rich history, and others they’ll lean into how tortured they are because of how sad and pathetic the Knicks have always been.

Pick one.

There’s also this annoying part of the equation where NBA fans nationwide buy into both angles. People love to rave that the league is better when the Knicks are good or that the fanbase deserves it. They certainly do not.

Also, Karl-Anthony Towns is insufferable. This guy ticks all the boxes in terms of being annoying. He celebrates after every made shot and whines at every whistle -- incredibly easy to root against.

With New York’s championship aspirations as high as they’ve been since the 1990s this season, I’ll be looking forward to hate-watching them every chance I get.

1. The Los Angeles Lakers

As much as it feels like putting the Los Angeles Lakers in the top spot is just a formality, that’s very much not the case.

Yes. The Lakers are historically the Celtics’ biggest rival. The two teams have met in the Finals a record 12 times. They’re the league’s two most successful franchises. As a Celtics fan, you are taught to hate the Lakers.

Meanwhile, the Lakers largely capitalize on any opportunity to lure other teams’ best players to L.A. Yes, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant were all Lakers for their entire careers, but they’re rarities, believe me. Guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and now Luka Doncic all became Lakers after establishing their stardom elsewhere. 

James and Doncic are now the current faces of Laker basketball -- two unlikable stars to say the least. They’re a match made in heaven with how much they love to whine and complain to the officials. James, of course, is probably Boston’s biggest individual rival of all time. He’s gone to war with the Celtics for almost two decades now (wow). 

The cherry on top for this year’s Lakers squad is that, somehow, they’re going to make me root against Marcus Smart -- a beloved Celtic of nine years. Seeing Smart in the purple and gold for the first time was a gutwrenching experience, and it makes me hate the Lakers even more.

As a Celtics fan, if the Lakers are playing anyone, no matter who it is, you should be rooting against them with everything you’ve got.

If you’ve somehow made it this far, you have my utmost respect. What’d you think of this list? Do you agree? Feel I gave some teams too much grief? Think I have too much time on my hands?