1962 Boston Celtics

Boston set a new standard with 60 wins, and Russell took his second straight MVP. The Celtics had so much depth that Sam Jones moved into the starting lineup while K.C. Jones backed up Cousy.

The Eastern final pitted Boston against Wilt Chamberlain's Warriors. Chamberlain had averaged 50.4 points that season and scored 100 in a single game, but the Celtics beat Philadelphia in seven and moved on.

The Lakers had Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. Baylor scored 61 in Game 5, still a Finals record. The series reached a seventh game in Boston. With the score tied in the closing seconds, Selvy missed from the baseline. Russell took over in overtime and Boston won 110-107.

It was the Celtics' fourth straight title. Russell's 40-rebound Game 7 tied his own single-game mark, and no player has matched his 189 rebounds in a Finals series.

The league was smaller than it is today, but the 1962 playoffs still required beating the best teams in the division and then the other side of the bracket. Title paths from this era are shorter on paper than a modern run, yet the Finals still decided the champion.

The starting five was Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, and Tom Sanders. Red Auerbach coached the group with Frank Ramsey as the primary bench scorer.

This was title number 4 in a Boston Celtics run that stretched across consecutive or near-consecutive seasons. Repeat winners carried continuity from one year to the next.

The full roster ran deeper than the headline names. Role players who mattered included Bob Cousy (longtime All-Star point guard, still the starter); Carl Braun (veteran guard in his last season).

The 1962 playoffs ran through divisional rounds before the Finals. The Boston Celtics still needed four series wins in many years, but the league had fewer teams than the 30-franchise map used today.

The Boston Celtics share a lineage with other banners from 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008, 2024. Compare those seasons on the franchise hub to see how the roster and style changed between title runs.

Looking back, the 1961-62 Celtics were the first team in NBA history to win 60 games, finishing 60-20. They survived the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game Finals decided in overtime, after Frank Selvy missed an open jumper at the buzzer that would have won it for Los Angeles. Bill Russell grabbed 40 rebounds in that Game 7 and 189 for the series, a record that still stands.

For the full roster beyond the featured starters, see the table on this page. For other Boston Celtics titles, use the franchise hub linked below.