How many hall of famers were on the Celtics that won 11 Championships?

Question

My kill: Russell didn't win a ring when he first was eligible to join the team in 56. KC Jones joined the team in 57 and that was Russells first full year as well and they won their first Championship. Your list of allstars on those other teams are nice, but none of those teams ever had 5 hall of famers on the court at the same time. And none of those teams had the caliber of talent that Boston possesed. And boston was a great offensive team before bill got there. Bill along with Jones, and Heinsoln were the key to the celtics missing pieces for a dynasty. Now I give credit to bill pulling off those 3 championships on the downhill of his career and most of the 8 ring team had already retired or moved on, but Bill was blessed with a great team when they won those 8 rings.

Answer 1

well let's see:

Bill Russell

Bob Cousy

K.C. Jones

Sam Jones

Frank Ramsey

Bill Sharman

John Havlicek

Tom Heinsohn

Arnie Risen

Clyde Lovellette

TEN - don't think I left anyone out...

Answer 2

Bill russell

Answer 3

Using the above poster's list as guide:

Cousy only played one year with Havlicek

Frank Ramsey and Sharman never played with Havlicek

Russell won 3 championships without Heinsohn and KC, 2 of which came as PLAYERcoach. Heinsohn by the way only won the ROY because Bill was taken out of the running in all awards because he signed his contract mid way into the season and played only half a season. KC who joined in 1958, 2 years after Russ and Heinsohn, also was a bench player for the first four years.

Sam Jones was a member of 10 Celtic championship teams but he was a bench warmer for the first four of those teams. He wasnt even the Sixth man of those teams.

Arnie and Clyde have their Hall of Fame years prior to joining the Celtics.

The Celtics are loaded with Hall of Famers because almost every other team in the League are LOADED also with Hall of Famers.

The St. Louis Hawks have:

Bob Petit

Ed Macauley

Slater Martin

Cliff Hagan

*Clyde Lovellete

and Lenny Wilkens in later years

San Francisco/ Philadelphia Warriors

Neil Johnston

Paul Azirin

Tom Gola

*Wilt

Nate Thurmond

Rick Barry

Syracuse Nationals/ Philadelphia 76ers

Red Kerr

Dolph Schayes

Hal Greer

Frank(?) Costello

Billy Cunningham

*Wilt

Minneapolis/LA Lakers

Vern Mikkelsen

Baylor

West

Gail Goodrich

Rochester Royals (Sac Kings)

Jack Twyman

Oscar Robertson

Jerry Lucas

[Note: No need to read this]

To debunk the myth that Bill Russell only won championships because of his talented teammates . . . . .

The Celtics NEVER went to the NBA Finals before Russell even with Hall Of Famers like Coach Auerbach and players like Macauley, Cousy, Sharman, and Ramsey.

Back in the '62 season, Russell took himself out for 4 games and the Celtics lost 4 straight games even with Red Auerbach, Cousy, Sharman, the Joneses, Ramsey and other HoF's.

Back in '69, Russell took himself out for 5 games because of an injury and the Celtics lost 5 straight even with HoF's Sam Jones, Havlicek, Satch Sanders, and Bailey Howell.

The instances that i mentioned are the two worst losing streaks of the Russell-era Celtics. The latter is the worst losing streak of the Celtics since Red Auerbach took over the helm.

When Russell retired after the '69 season, the Celtics went down from 48 wins to 34 and they MISSED the Playoffs even with HoF's such as Havlicek, Sanders, Jo Jo White and Howell. A huge 14 game drop.

And the modest 48 wins that the Celtics garnered during the '69 season is the lowest number of wins that the Celts have during the Russell -era and occured only because Russell spent a lot of time in the injured list and/or recovering.

Theoretically speaking, the Celtics with an "Allstar" cast like that should be able to shrug off Russell's departure and continue the Celtic dynasty, in reality, they couldnt.

The Celtic dynasty started and ended, at least the first part pre-Cowens, Silas etc., of the 70's with Bill Russell.

Russell has 5 rings w/o Cousy. He also has 5 rings

without Havlicek. He also has 2 rings without Red Auerbach as coach. How many rings does Jordan have without Pippen and Phil Jackson?

Theoretically speaking, the Bulls should have dropped 15 games and be knocked off Playoff contention w/o its "leader" and "franchise player" , the supposed GOAT, Michael Jordan in the lineup, according to coach Phil Jackson himself. In reality, it DIDNT HAPPEN. Reality check basketball fans!

How come that when Jordan "retired" in '94 the Bulls went "down" from 57 wins to 55? A pitiful 2 game drop. How come that the Bulls played Game 7 with the Knicks on the Second Round of the Playoffs ? Scottie, Phil jackson, and Myers, a defensive specialist from the CBA and Jordan's replacement would have lead the Bulls to the ECF if it wasnt for a bad call from ref Hue Hollins in the closing seconds of Game 6 shifted the momentum to the Knicks. The Bulls know its futile to try and win because the refs would just cheat them again in game 7, in order to preserve the illusion of Jordan's importance to the team.

Going back to Russell, he doesnt win only because he has talented teammates. He also lead a bunch of local boys, "a playground pick up team" from USF, a school with no gymnasium of its own, to back to back NCAA championships and a 55 game winning streak.

How come Jordan COULD NOT lead a school with a rich winning tradition like UNC, into the Final Four during his junior (UNC was ranked #1 in '83) and senior (#2 in '84) years even though he have great teammates (like Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty) and a great coach (Dean Smith)?

Jordan won an NCAA championship during his sophomore year as a Robert Horry-role player, riding on the coattails of the team's real star James Worthy, the '82 MOP. While Jordan's shot with 16 sec. left (not exactly a game winner) gave them the lead over Ewing's Hoyas, it was Worthy's crucial steal in the dying seconds that sealed the win.