Banner Years: 1968, Boston is not dead

NBA history spans 80 seasons, and as CelticsBlog readers well know, the Boston Celtics have won a league-high 18 championships. This month, we are recapping each of those title years.

“Boston is dead! Boston is dead !”

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The winning streak ended in 1967. The eight-peat would not be extended. It seemed like the Philadelphia 76ers had emphatically ended the Boston dynasty – but in 1968 the Celtics would have something to say about that.

Red Auerbach had retired from coaching after the 1966 championship and was succeeded by Bill Russell, who took on the role of player-coach. That dual responsibility is unheard of today, but it wasn’t uncommon in the first three decades of the NBA. The league has seen 40 player-coaches, the last one being – fun fact – the Celtics’ Dave Cowens, who had a 27-41 record after coach Satch Sanders was fired a month into the 1978-79 season.

“We’re only dead until October.”

During 1966-67, Boston and Philly were two giants at the top. The Celtics posted a 60-21 record, which in most years would lead the league, but the 76ers set a league record at 68-13.

Boston beat New York 3-1 in the first-round best-of-five series, then faced Philly, which had surrounded Wilt Chamberlain with the best supporting cast of his career. The Celtics had won the season series, 5-4, but the inspired Sixers took a 3-0 lead in their playoff matchup. Celtics pride delivered a Game 4 win, but Game 5 in Philly let loose emotions that had been building for a decade. The Sixers ran wild, 140-116, and the crowd chanted “Boston is dead!”

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John Havlicek’s response: “We’re only dead until October.”

The 1967-68 regular season

Coaching presented a learning curve for Bill Russell, especially as he had no assistant coach (no team did at that time). Fortunately, his roster was filled with veteran players who could help out while Russell was on the court (which he was for roughly 40 minutes per game). Besides all that, Russell was trying to fill the shoes of the most successful coach in basketball, and perhaps all of sports.

Now with one season under his belt, Russell looked to start winning again in…

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Publish date : 2026-08-14 10:00:00

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