{"id":656604,"date":"2026-05-21T14:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/656604\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:55:14","slug":"celtics-get-major-love-in-sporting-news-best-nba-champions-ranking-but-lakers-still-sneak-in-too-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/656604\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics Get Major Love in Sporting News\u2019 Best NBA Champions Ranking, But Lakers Still Sneak in Too High"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtics Get Major Love in Sporting News\u2019 Best NBA Champions Ranking, But Lakers Still Sneak in Too High<\/a> originally appeared on NESN<\/a>. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sporting News ranked the 20 greatest NBA champions of all time<\/a>, and Boston<\/a> fans can breathe easy: the Celtics<\/a> were not treated like some forgotten black-and-white footage franchise that only exists when ESPN needs a graphic.<\/p>\n

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The Celtics had three championship teams make the list: the 1986 Celtics at No. 3, the 1965 Celtics at No. 13, and the 2008 Celtics at No. 15. The 2024 Celtics also cracked the list at No. 19, giving Boston four total appearances, including the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era.<\/p>\n

That feels about right. Maybe a little low in spots, but that is what sports rankings are for \u2014 arguing during lunch, yelling into group chats and reminding Lakers<\/a> fans that half their banners needed a moving truck.<\/p>\n

The highest-ranked Boston team was the 1986 Celtics, and honestly, no complaints there. That team was ridiculous. Larry Bird was in the middle of his third straight MVP season. Kevin McHale and Robert Parish controlled the paint. Bill Walton came off the bench as a future Hall of Famer. Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge handled the dirty work on the perimeter.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the Celtics went 40-1 at Boston Garden.<\/p>\n

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Forty. And. One.<\/p>\n

Larry Bird\u2019s 1986 Celtics still look like basketball royalty<\/p>\n

The 1986 Celtics finished behind only the 2017 Warriors<\/a> and 1996 Bulls.<\/p>\n

Were those Warriors absurd? Yes. Stephen Curry<\/a>, Kevin Durant<\/a>, Klay Thompson<\/a> and Draymond Green<\/a> were basically an NBA 2K roster with the salary cap turned off.<\/p>\n

Were the 1996 Bulls a monster? Obviously. Michael Jordan came back from baseball and started treating the league like it owed him money.<\/p>\n

But the 1986 Celtics belong right there with both. They had star power, depth, defense, passing, size and the kind of basketball IQ that made opponents look like they were reading the playbook upside down.<\/p>\n

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Bird was the headliner, but that team was not just \u201cLarry and some guys.\u201d McHale was one of the most skilled post players ever. Parish was steady as ever. Walton gave Boston another Hall of Fame big off the bench. That is just unfair.<\/p>\n

The 1965 Celtics also made the list behind Bill Russell and Sam Jones, another reminder that Russell\u2019s dynasty still casts a shadow over the whole league. Every time another franchise celebrates a \u201chistoric run,\u201d Boston can just quietly point to the 1960s and let everyone else argue for second place.<\/p>\n

2008 and 2024 Celtics keep Boston\u2019s modern legacy alive<\/p>\n

The 2008 Celtics coming in at No. 15 is another fun one. Kevin Garnett<\/a>, Paul Pierce<\/a> and Ray Allen<\/a> changed the franchise overnight and delivered the most satisfying kind of title: one that ended with the Lakers looking miserable.<\/p>\n

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That championship still hits different. Garnett screaming, Pierce winning Finals MVP, Doc Rivers pushing the right buttons and Kobe Bryant<\/a> walking off the Garden floor without a ring. Beautiful television.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Celtics also made the cut at No. 19, with Tatum<\/a> and Brown representing the modern era. That team may not have the nostalgia of Bird\u2019s Celtics or the emotional punch of 2008, but it was dominant, balanced and built like a champion from October through June.<\/p>\n

So, yes, Warriors at No. 1. Bulls at No. 2. Lakers hanging around in multiple spots because apparently they are allowed to be in every historical conversation by law.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is clear: when Sporting News or anyone else ranks the greatest champions ever, the Celtics are everywhere.<\/p>\n

As usual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtics Get Major Love in Sporting News\u2019 Best NBA Champions Ranking, But Lakers Still Sneak in Too High…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[283047,8731,8730,13034,13339,283048,5556,36056,71089,9954,7566,6306,30947,355,12168,66987,118484,5441,99,2244,232100,4202],"class_list":["post-656604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-bill-walton","tag-boston","tag-boston-garden","tag-celtics","tag-draymond-green","tag-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kevin-garnett","tag-kevin-mchale","tag-klay-thompson","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-lakers","tag-larry-bird","tag-nba","tag-paul-pierce","tag-ray-allen","tag-robert-parish","tag-sporting-news","tag-sports","tag-stephen-curry","tag-tatum","tag-warriors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}