The Boston Celtics are the most successful team in NBA history, with their 2024 Finals win taking them to an 18th title, one clear of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Their first championship arrived in 1957. It was followed by the dynasty of the 1960s, a resurgence in the 1980s and further titles in 2008 and 2024. Plenty of great players have passed through the franchise along the way.

Some have left a permanent mark, though, and GIVEMESPORT has ranked the 12 best players in Celtics history.

13 Jaylen Brown

Kicking off the list is Jaylen Brown, whose decade in Boston ended with a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in July 2026.

Drafted third overall in 2016, Brown split his time at TD Garden between shooting guard and small forward. He grew alongside Jayson Tatum into one half of the most successful duo of the era.

His crowning moment came in 2024, when he was named Finals MVP as the Celtics won their first title in 16 years. A five-time All-Star, he saved his best individual season for last.

With Tatum sidelined by a ruptured Achilles for much of 2025-26, Brown averaged career highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. That earned him All-NBA Second Team honours and sixth place in MVP voting.

12 Dave Cowens

Dave Cowens bridged the gap between the Russell dynasty and the Bird era. In 1970, he was drafted fourth overall. Crazily, the six-foot-nine inch centre was undersized for his position, but he compensated for it with a relentless energy and dived for loose balls and outworked larger opponents.

He shared Rookie of the Year honours in his first season. In 1972-73 he was named league MVP after averaging 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds as Boston won 68 games. Titles followed in 1974 and 1976, and the eight-time All-Star had his No. 18 jersey retired by the franchise.

11 Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum arrived in 2017 as the third overall pick. Boston secured that pick by trading down from first, and the No. 1 pick itself had come from the Brooklyn Nets in the Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce deal.

Yet his career has blossomed into stardom. He has since become the face of the franchise; now a six-time All-Star, Tatum was named in four consecutive All-NBA First Teams between 2022 and 2025, and he was the Celtics’ leading man in their 2024 title run.

A ruptured Achilles in the 2025 playoffs threatened to derail his prime, but he returned in March 2026, 298 days after the injury. Still in his late twenties, he has every chance of climbing much higher on this list.

10 Robert Parish

Robert Parish was not the most skilled player of all-time, but he was certainly one of the most durable. Parish spent 14 of his 21 NBA seasons with the Celtics and still holds the record for most regular-season games played, with 1,611.

Alongside Larry Bird and Kevin McHale in one of the greatest front courts ever assembled, ‘The Chief’ won three titles in Boston, made nine All-Star teams and had his No. 00 jersey retired.

Renowned for consistent double-doubles, Parish was a master of his role. He was the unsung hero of the side that dominated the 1980s, wearing down opponents and giving others the platform to succeed and rightfully earsn his spot here.

9 Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale spent his entire 13-season career in Boston. He finished as a three-time champion, a seven-time All-Star and a Hall of Famer, with his No. 32 jersey retired - bringing real pedigree to this distinguished list.

He began as one of the league’s great sixth men, winning Sixth Man of the Year in 1984 and 1985, before becoming a starter and redefining the power forward position. His array of post moves earned the low block the nickname ‘The Torture Chamber’, and he was just as effective defensively, earning multiple All-Defensive selections.

His peak came in 1986-87, when he averaged 26.1 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting over 60 per cent from the field. Unfortunately, his side lost the Finals to the Lakers. A foot injury he played through that season meant he never quite returned to those levels, but those years were central to the Celtics’ dominance.

8 Kevin Garnett

Kevin Garnett spent the first 12 years of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, winning MVP in 2004. He arrived in Boston in 2007 aged 31 and still near his peak.

The Celtics sent five players and two first-round picks to Minnesota to land him, and the move paid off immediately. Alongside Pierce and Ray Allen, Garnett led Boston to the 2008 title, their first in 22 years, and was named Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

His intensity transformed the team’s culture across six seasons in Boston. With an incredible presence, he later brought the Celtics to the big screen, in the 2019 film Uncut Gems, in which he starred opposite Adam Sandler.

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6 Sam Jones

Sam Jones was another cornerstone of the dynasty, and only Bill Russell won more championships. Jones collected 10 titles in 12 seasons with Boston and experienced an incredible run of success.

A five-time All-Star whose No. 24 jersey hangs in the rafters, he carried much of the scoring load for Red Auerbach’s side. He was lethal from mid-range and a master of the bank shot, and his versatility gave Auerbach real flexibility.

His biggest asset was his ability to win games in the closing minutes, especially in the playoffs. That included averaging 28.6 points per game in the 1965 postseason, and he is the definition of a true winner on the court.

5 Bob Cousy

You simply cannot overlook anyone from the Celtics’ dynasty sides, and Bob Cousy was one of the originals and has to feature strongly on this list.

Standing just 6ft 1in, he lacked the physical frame of many players of his era, but he helped Boston to six titles after joining in 1950. He led the league in assists for eight consecutive seasons, and his passing and ball-handling earned him the nickname ‘The Houdini of theHardwood’. He is widely regarded as the NBA’s first great point guard: a real trailblazer.

Cousy was named MVP in 1957 and was an All-Star in each of his 13 seasons in Boston, and he is immortalised with his No. 14 jersey retired.

4 Paul Pierce

Another star with huge credentials in the basketball world, Paul Pierce, spent 15 years in Boston and was comfortably their best player of the 2000s.

‘The Truth’ captained the side for much of his time there. He averaged a career-high 26.8 points in 2005-06 as the Celtics began to rebuild, then won the 2008 title and was named Finals MVP. He came close to a second ring in 2010, losing a Game 7 to the Lakers.

A 10-time All-Star, Pierce ranks second only to John Havlicek on the franchise’s all-time scoring list. After spells with the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and LA Clippers, he signed a ceremonial one-day contract in 2017 to retire as a Celtic, and is an all-time great in the Boston folklore.