While the center position isn’t what it once was in the classic era of the NBA, the Boston Celtics have had some true giants at the five in every sense of the word.
But who are the best to play for the storied franchise as they collected an NBA-best 17 banners over the last seven decades?
The Celtics Wire have assembled the best of the best from Boston’s past to see how they stack up against each other.
We went all the way back to the 1950s before the Celtics won their first banner right up to last season, and while there’s lots of faces to choose from, the man at the top stands alone.
We’re only counting what players did in their time with the team, so don’t be surprised to see great players like Shaquille O’Neal absent from this list.
We’ll begin in reverse order just to have a bit of drama, though astute fans of Boston’s history likely already know how this list will end.