With the Boston Celtics a contending ball club, they do not look to have any realistic candidates in the league’s annual Rookie of the Year award come the end of this season. But, they have had several winners of that honor in the past. Still, for a team that has won 17 titles — as much as any other team in the league’s seven-decade history — you would think they would have had more of them than three over the course of their storied history.
Particularly given much of the rosters that carried the Celtics to unprecedented success in the 1960s were home-grown talent either drafted or traded for in their first season in the league. Can you name the three Rookie of the Year winners Boston has been honored to roster over the years without looking?
Buy Celtics TicketsMake your guesses, then scroll down to find out — extra Tommy points if you can name the season they won it as well.
These are all of the Boston Celtics’ draft picks since 2000. https://t.co/RGXvgD679h
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 8, 2021
1 - Tommy Heinsohn (1956-57)
Tommy Heinsohn had about as good of a rookie season as anyone could hope for, winning Rookie of the Year honors before winning his — and Boston’s — first title.
2 - Dave Cowens (1970-71)
While Cowens may not have won a title in his inaugural season, he did average 17 points and 15 rebounds per game after criticism he might not be big enough to play the 5 in the NBA at 6-foot-9, splitting Rookie of the Year with the Portland Trail Blazers’ Geoff Petrie.
3 - Larry Bird (1979-80)
Like Cowens, there was no title in Bird’s inaugural campaign — but he was largely responsible for what was the greatest turnaround in a single season in league history at that time, adding 32 wins to the season before Bird secured Boston’s most recent Rookie of the Year honors.
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