2004 Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are perennial contenders in the NBA's Eastern Conference. On January 8, 2001, Jim O'Brien took over the head-coaching job from collegiate legend turned NBA bust Rick Pitino, who resigned after three disappointing years as the Celtics coach and President. Since taking over the job, O'Brien has revamped the team with the help of standouts Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. The two All-Stars led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2002 and 2003. Both times they were defeated by the New Jersey Nets.

In 2003, the Celtics were involved in a huge trade sending Antoine Walker and Tony Delk to the Dallas Mavericks in return for Raef LaFrenz, Chris Mills, and Jiri Welsch. Desperate for more of a scoring threat, the Celtics sent Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown, and Eric Williams to Cleveland for scorer Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, and Michael Stewart. With all of the acquisitions, the Celtics have remained one of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference.

Celtics in the Basketball Hall of Fame include: Nate Archibald, Larry Bird, Walter Brown, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Wayne Embry, John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, Bailey Howell, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, Clyde Lovellette, Ed Macauley, Pete Maravich, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Andy Phillip, Frank Ramsey, Arnie Risen, Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, John Thompson, and Bill Walton.

Other standout Celtics players include: Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Reggie Lewis, and Antoine Walker.

In 1995, the Boston Celtics moved from the historic Boston Garden into their new home, the Fleet Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. There hang the jerseys of Hall of Famers such as Larry Bird, Bill Walton, and Bill Russell. Also hanging from the rafters are a record sixteen NBA Championship banners, even more than Western Conference rivals the Los Angeles Lakers. Led by legendary coach Red Auerbach, the Celtics won eight consecutive NBA Championships between 1959 and 1966. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the NBA came up with a list of the fifty greatest players of all time. Thirteen Celtics appeared on the list, more than any other team in the league.

Boston is also home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, who call Fenway Park their home. The Red Sox made a late run in the summer of 2003 and made it all the way to the American League Championship Series before losing in game seven to the archrival New York Yankees. The National Hockey League's Boston Bruins also call Boston home. The five-time Stanley Cup winners play at the Fleet Center. The football team of choice in Boston is the New England Patriots, playing in Gillette Stadium less than 30 miles outside of Boston. The Patriots were the Super Bowl champions in 2001.