Boston Celtics Trivia
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This Boston Celtics trivia quiz has 114 free questions with answers and runs the length of the franchise: Walter Brown founding the team in 1946, Red Auerbach's cigar-lit dynasty, the eight straight titles of the Bill Russell years, the Bird-McHale-Parish Celtics of the 1980s, the 2008 Big Three, and the 2024 team that finally raised Banner 18. Expect questions on retired numbers and the parquet floor, the Lakers rivalry from the 1959 sweep to the Heat Game, franchise-changing trades and draft picks, and the odd detail that separates a casual fan from a Garden lifer, like which Celtic spent a day driving a Boston taxi. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so you can argue about the ones you miss with confidence. Play it solo, or use it as a ready-made round for your next Celtics watch party or bar trivia night.
30 of 114 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Red Auerbach signalled that a Celtics win was safe by doing what on the bench?
Lighting a cigar
Lighting a cigar was Auerbach's way of declaring a game won before the final buzzer; some Boston restaurants later posted no-smoking signs that made an exception for him.
Q 02The Celtics were founded in 1946 as a charter team of which league, a forerunner of the NBA?
Basketball Association of America
Basketball Association of America clubs merged with the older, rival National Basketball League in 1949, and the combined league took the name NBA; the NBA dates its history from the BAA's 1946 start.
Q 03Which future star of the TV western The Rifleman was an original member of the Boston Celtics in 1946?
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors shattered a glass backboard with a warm-up shot before the Celtics' first home game in November 1946; he later played baseball for the Dodgers and Cubs before Hollywood.
Q 04Which future Celtics great arrived in 1950 as the name nobody wanted from a hat of Chicago Stags players?
Bob Cousy
Bob Cousy went into a hat with two more sought-after Stags when the Chicago club folded; the Celtics' owner had hoped for Max Zaslofsky and admitted he nearly fell to the floor when he drew Cousy.
Q 05To get the 1956 pick used on Russell, the Celtics traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan's rights to which team?
St. Louis Hawks
The Celtics sent Ed Macauley and the rights to Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the No. 2 pick in 1956; the Hawks then met Boston in four Finals, winning only in 1958.
Q 06Which Celtic won the 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year award over teammate Bill Russell?
Tom Heinsohn
Tom Heinsohn played the whole season, while Russell joined only in December after winning Olympic gold in Melbourne; Heinsohn then had 37 points and 23 rebounds in Game 7 of the Finals.
Q 07The Celtics' 1959 title was the first sweep in NBA Finals history, over a Lakers team then based in which city?
Minneapolis
Minneapolis lost the Lakers a year later: crowds had dwindled since star center George Mikan retired, and the team moved to Los Angeles before the 1960-61 season.
Q 08When Russell succeeded Auerbach as Celtics coach in 1966, what milestone did he set?
The NBA's first Black head coach
The NBA's first Black head coach took the job while still playing and won titles in 1968 and 1969; Russell said he got it not because of his race but because Auerbach figured he could do it.
Q 09Which Celtics guard, famed for his bank shot, won ten championship rings, second only to Bill Russell?
Sam Jones
Sam Jones nearly became a schoolteacher instead: he had a high-school job offer pending when Auerbach drafted him from little-known North Carolina Central, and he went on to be called 'Mr. Clutch'.
Q 10Which Celtics radio announcer made the famous 1965 call 'Havlicek stole the ball!'?
Johnny Most
Johnny Most rasped the line as Havlicek tipped away a Philadelphia inbounds pass with five seconds left in Game 7, saving a 110-109 win; he called Celtics games from 1953 to 1990.
Q 11Who is the Celtics' all-time leading regular-season scorer?
John Havlicek
John Havlicek piled up 26,395 points over 16 seasons, all with Boston, even though he began his career coming off the bench as the team's sixth man.
Q 12Which NFL team drafted Celtics swingman Havlicek in 1962 and briefly tried him at wide receiver?
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns coaches took Havlicek in the seventh round in 1962 and tried him at wide receiver in exhibition games before releasing him, which left the Ohio State star to the Celtics.
Q 13Which Celtics center spent a day in 1977 driving a Boston taxi cab, going largely unrecognized?
Dave Cowens
Q 21The 'Beat L.A.!' chant began in 1982 when Boston fans urged which team, about to eliminate the Celtics, to win it all?
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers were closing out Game 7 of the 1982 East finals at Boston Garden when the chant began; they lost the Finals to the Lakers anyway.
Q 22Which Celtics reserve went 11-for-11 in the 1985 'Memorial Day Massacre' win over the Lakers?
Scott Wedman
Scott Wedman made all 11 of his shots, including four three-pointers, as Boston won Game 1 148–114 on 27 May 1985; the Lakers then took four of the next five games and the title.
Q 23The 1985-86 Celtics' record 40-1 home mark was finally matched in 2015-16 by which team?
San Antonio Spurs
Dave Cowens, the 1973 league MVP, spent a day driving a Boston taxi in 1977 and said few passengers recognised him; he had also taken a mid-season sabbatical from the team in 1976-77.
Q 14The triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 Finals at Boston Garden came against which team?
Phoenix Suns
Boston beat the Phoenix Suns 128–126 in three overtimes on 4 June 1976, after Gar Heard's turnaround jumper at the buzzer forced the third extra period; Boston then won the title in Game 6.
Q 15Larry Bird was drafted sixth by the Celtics in 1978 but stayed another year at which college?
Indiana State
Indiana State went unbeaten into the 1979 NCAA final with Bird before losing to Magic Johnson's Michigan State; Boston had spent a first-round pick a year early to secure him.
Q 16Bird's then-franchise-record 60-point game in March 1985 came against which opponent?
Atlanta Hawks
Bird scored 60 against the Atlanta Hawks on 12 March 1985 in New Orleans, where the Hawks staged 12 home games that season; Dominique Wilkins said it was 'like living in a video game'.
Q 17Nine days before Bird's 60, which teammate had set the Celtics single-game scoring record with 56 points?
Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale asked to come out late with 56 against Detroit; Bird told him he should have gone for 60, then scored 60 himself nine days later.
Q 18Before the 1980 draft, the Celtics traded the first overall pick for a center and the third pick with which team?
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors used the top pick on Joe Barry Carroll; the center and the third pick Boston got back became two-thirds of a Hall of Fame frontcourt.
Q 19Which Celtic beat out Larry Bird for the 1981 NBA Finals MVP award?
Cedric Maxwell
Cedric Maxwell, known as 'Cornbread', told teammates to 'climb on my back' before Game 7 of the 1984 Finals and later became a Celtics radio broadcaster.
Q 20Which Laker was given oxygen on the bench during the 97-degree 'Heat Game' of the 1984 Finals?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then 37, needed an oxygen tank in a Garden with no air conditioning, while Larry Bird scored 34 and Boston won Game 5 121–103.
The San Antonio Spurs also went 40–1 at home thirty years later but lost in the second round, whereas the 1986 Celtics went on to win the title.
Q 24Which Celtic won the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year award?
Bill Walton
Bill Walton, the 1978 league MVP, won the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year award after coming to Boston from the Clippers, the only player with an MVP, a Finals MVP and a Sixth Man award.
Q 25Len Bias, Boston's No. 2 pick in 1986, starred at which university before dying two days after the draft?
Maryland
Maryland's Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose two days after the draft; within months Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, known as the Len Bias Law.
Q 26The Celtics' pick used on Len Bias came from Seattle in a 1984 trade for which guard, famed for a Finals steal?
Gerald Henderson
Gerald Henderson's steal and layup tied Game 2 of the 1984 Finals, which Boston won in overtime; that fall he was traded for the Seattle first-rounder that became the second overall pick.
Q 27Reggie Lewis, whose No. 35 was retired after his 1993 death, played college ball at which Boston school?
Northeastern
Northeastern's Reggie Lewis became Celtics captain after Larry Bird retired, then collapsed during a 1993 playoff game and died that July at 27.
Q 28How many games did the Celtics win in their franchise-worst 1996-97 season?
15
The 1996-97 Celtics went 15–67 under M. L. Carr, the worst record in franchise history, then lost the draft lottery for Tim Duncan and settled for the No. 3 and No. 6 picks.
Q 29Rick Pitino's 1997 ten-year deal as Celtics president and coach was reportedly worth how much?
$70 million
Pitino's May 1997 contract was reported at $70 million over ten years, making him the NBA's highest-paid coach; he took the president title Auerbach had held since 1970 and resigned in January 2001.
Q 30Rick Pitino's 'walking through that door' rant followed a March 2000 buzzer-beater by which Raptors star?
Vince Carter
Vince Carter's buzzer-beater won it for the visitors on 1 March 2000, after which Pitino declared that 'Larry Bird is not walking through that door', nor his old teammates.