In the NBA, the influence of a single star player on a team’s success can be profound, turning struggling teams into perennial contenders. A recent analysis by the staff of our sister site HoopsHype focuses on these sorts of transformative stars and the teams they were closely associated with, showing off the before-and-after scenarios in terms of franchise winning percentages pumped up by their presence on that respective roster.
And as one might expect given the flow of future Hall of Famers through the Boston Celtics’ organization over the decades they won an NBA-record 17 banners, there are several Boston alumni in that analysis.
Let’s take a look at the top three Celtics stars to make the cut.
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John Havlicek: +7.4%
Franchise winning percentage with him: 64.9%
Franchise winning percentage without him: 57.5%
Bill Russell: +15.1%
Franchise winning percentage with him: 71.7%
Franchise winning percentage without him: 56.6%
Larry Bird: +17.1%
Franchise winning percentage with him: 73.6%
Franchise winning percentage without him: 56.5%
