When thinking of the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird is the name that automatically comes to mind. Larry Bird was one of the most successful Celtic in the franchises’ history. Once Larry Bird decided to retire, the success of Celtics was not the same as it used to be for a while. Larry Bird gave Boston 3 championships. Since then, the Boston Celtics had not been to an NBA championship in 21 years. As time went by a person by the name of Paul Pierce, drafted 10th in the NBA draft was the franchises’ newest young star. Paul Pierce was the guy that everybody knew would bring the Celtics back to their glory days.
The turnaround that was supposed to happen for the Celtics did not happen. Many seasons went by for the Celtics and ended the way they did not want it to end. At one point Paul Pierce was uncertain about his future with the Celtics. Paul Pierce even thought about leaving at one point because he thought the Celtics were going to bring in younger players to build the program around. During that season the Celtics had one of the leagues’ worst records which was 24-58. At this point Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ general manager knew it was time for a change but was not going to make the change without his superstar Paul Pierce.
Danny Ainge decided to add some players to his team that would take them to a championship. The first big player Danny Ainge went after was Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Garnett did not want to come and threatened to opt out of his contract if traded to the Celtics. The second big player Danny Ainge was able to sign was Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics. Ray Allen saw where the Celtics wanted Kevin Garnett and he was able to convince Kevin Garnett to come and play for the Celtics. The Celtics traded seven players just to get Kevin Garnett. The trade was the leagues’ single largest trade for one player in NBA history. At this moment, the “Big 3” was formed with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.
The first season the “Big 3” was together the Celtics went from a record of 24-58 the previous season to the NBA’s best regular season record. Every home game that the Celtics played were sold out. All three players were All-stars and Kevin Garnett won Defensive Player of the Year. The Celtics went on to win their first NBA championship since 1986 where they beat the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics were able to win the game comfortably by winning by 39 points to seal the victory. Paul Pierce was the NBA finals MVP. The whole year was remarkable for the Celtics.
The Celtics were so hard to compete with that other teams decided to trade to get players to beat the Celtics the following year. As we all know all good things must come to an end. The “Big 3” last game together was when they lost in 2012 to the Miami Heat in the playoffs. The “Big 3” all parted ways and went to new teams. The Celtics were described as a “super team” because they dominated the NBA. They turned around a losing record the previous year to winning 44 more games the next year proving they were a unstoppable team.
The Impact of Super Teams in Sports 