NBA Champions ·
1984 Boston Celtics
The 1984 Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games to win the title, renewing the rivalry that defined the decade. Larry Bird won both the regular-season and Finals MVP. Kevin McHale took Sixth Man of the Year. The deciding stretch included a Game 5 played in a sweltering Boston Garden with no air conditioning.
Boston went 62-20 and finished first in the league in point differential. The big addition was Dennis Johnson, acquired from Phoenix the previous summer to defend opposing guards. He joined a frontcourt of Bird, McHale, Robert Parish, and Cedric Maxwell that had power and skill at every spot.
Bird led the team at 24.2 points and 10.1 rebounds and was named MVP. Parish gave them 19 a game in the middle. McHale, still coming off the bench, won Sixth Man of the Year. Maxwell, the 1981 Finals MVP, started at forward, and Gerald Henderson handled the ball.
The Finals against the Lakers was the first meeting of the franchises since 1969. Boston won a wild series that turned on a few moments: Henderson's steal and layup to force overtime in Game 2, McHale's hard takedown of Kurt Rambis in Game 4, and the Game 5 heat, when the Garden hit roughly 97 degrees and Bird scored 34 while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sucked oxygen on the bench. Boston took Game 7 at home.
Bird called his team out as soft during the series, then carried it. K.C. Jones won his first title as Boston's head coach, and the rivalry with the Lakers would run for two more Finals meetings in the decade.
Championship roster
Featured in Ring Holders Club
| Player | Role | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Larry Bird | SF | 97 |
| Dennis Johnson | PG | 83 |
| Gerald Henderson | SG | 75 |
| Kevin McHale | PF | 88 |
| Robert Parish | C | 87 |
| Scott Wedman | 6th man | 76 |
| K.C. Jones | Coach | 86 |
Ratings are year-specific curated estimates for Ring Holders Club, not official NBA stats.
Rest of the roster
| Player | Pos | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cedric Maxwell | F | starting forward and the 1981 Finals MVP |
| Danny Ainge | G | |
| Quinn Buckner | G | |
| M.L. Carr | F | |
| Greg Kite | C |
More Boston Celtics titles
- 1957 Boston Celtics
- 1959 Boston Celtics
- 1960 Boston Celtics
- 1961 Boston Celtics
- 1962 Boston Celtics
- 1963 Boston Celtics
- 1964 Boston Celtics
- 1965 Boston Celtics
- 1966 Boston Celtics
- 1968 Boston Celtics
- 1969 Boston Celtics
- 1974 Boston Celtics
- 1976 Boston Celtics
- 1981 Boston Celtics
- 1986 Boston Celtics
- 2008 Boston Celtics
- 2024 Boston Celtics