Ranking the Boston Celtics' Top 5 Centers of All Time

The Boston Celtics are the most storied franchise in NBA history. With 17 total championships and 27 players immortalized in the Hall of Fame, fans of the team have been treated to both great team and individual performances over the organization's first 69 years of existence.

Behind those great teams and among those legendary players are a handful of centers who have been instrumental in their team’s success while wearing the green and white. But we want to know who was the best of them all.

The obvious answer is Bill Russell and deservedly so. But it wouldn’t be any fun if we just stopped there. Instead, we’ll take a look at the top five and figure out who the other four are who fall in line behind Russell to round out this prestigious group.

The rankings will be simple. Titles will be taken into account, but they won’t make or break a player’s case for a top spot. Win shares, however, will hold the majority of the weight when determining who places where.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five centers in Boston Celtics history.

All stats come courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Honorable Mention: Bill Walton (1985-87)

Dick Raphael/Getty Images

Career Averages with the Celtics: 7.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.4 SPG, 1.3 BPG, 55.1 FG%

Win Shares: 4.9

Titles: 1

One of NBA's 50 Greatest Players

Had Bill Walton played with the Celtics earlier in his career, he almost certainly would have been higher on this list.

Unfortunately, he was only a member of the organization for the final two years of his professional basketball career. But he did play a key role as the sixth man on a Boston team that went on to beat the Houston Rockets in the 1985-86 NBA Finals.

As the most productive bench player on the league’s best team that year, Walton averaged 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in just under 20 minutes a night. Not coincidentally, that line, coupled with the 5.0 win shares he accumulated, were enough to secure him the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for the 1985-86 campaign.

Walton would later pick up his game ever so slightly in the NBA Finals, where he posted averages of 8 points and 6.7 boards on a scorching 62.2 percent shooting from the field.

Big Red may not have been anywhere close to the guy who had been a nightly double-double threat throughout the first eight seasons of his Hall of Fame career. But even with terrible feet, Walton always found a way to impact games coming off the bench in his NBA twilight years.

5. Kendrick Perkins (2003-11)

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

Career Averages with the Celtics: 6.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.3 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 56.3 FG%

Win Shares: 22.1

Titles: 1

Kendrick Perkins has been the butt of plenty of jokes over the course of his career, especially during his time as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But once upon a time, Perk was a quietly productive starting big man who helped carry the Celtics to a championship in 2007-08 as well as another NBA Finals appearance in 2009-10. Coincidentally, those two seasons were arguably the best of his career on both ends of the floor.

In 2007-08, Perkins posted a career-best defensive rating of 97—the fourth-best mark in the league that year—while also finishing in the top 10 in block percentage (8) and defensive box plus/minus (5).

Despite his defensive rating slipping from above average to just average two years later, Perkins made sure his presence was still felt on that end of the court.

He once again finished the regular season in the top 10 in block percentage, a feat that translated to a top-10 finish in blocks per game at 1.7 a night. Perkins was also uncharacteristically efficient as a scorer in 2009-10, converting his field-goal attempts at a 60.2 percent clip.

Boston’s prep-to-pro center remained effective in the postseason, averaging a solid 100.5 defensive rating between the 2008 and 2010 postseasons.

Perk played a key role in helping Kevin Garnett keep both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol at bay during both of the Celtics’ finals appearances. And based on his stout defensive impact, you have to wonder if the franchise would have won its second title of the Garnett-Paul Pierce-Ray Allen era in 2009-10 had he not torn both his MCL and PCL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

All things considered, Perkins’ 22.1 win shares in a Celtics uniform are somewhat surprising at first glance, but if you consider what he did for the franchise, it becomes clear that he was a large part of Boston’s success.

4. Ed Macauley (1950-56)

NBA Photo Library/Getty Images

Career Averages with the Celtics: 18.9 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 3.7 APG, 44.7 FG%

Win Shares: 75.5

Titles: 0

Although he never won a title in Boston, Ed Macauley spent the majority of his prime years playing in a green and white uniform.

An All-Star in each of his six seasons as a member of the Celtics, Macauley was consistently among the league leaders in almost every major statistical category—including four straight third-place finishes in win shares from 1950-54.

Easy Ed also earned All-NBA first-team honors three times while in Boston and even took home an All-Star MVP for good measure.

Macauley’s dominance was no secret. He accomplished a number of things on an individual level that some players can only dream about. Unfortunately, his individual play only translated into one NBA championship at the tail end of his career.

Perhaps the greatest thing he did for the Celtics, though, was leave. On April 30, 1956, Macauley and Cliff Hagan were shipped over to the St. Louis Hawks in exchange for the guy who ranks No. 1 on this list.

3. Dave Cowens (1970-80)

Dick Raphael/Getty Images

Career Averages with the Celtics: 18.2 PPG, 14.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 46.0 FG%

Win Shares: 83.7

Titles: 2

One of NBA's 50 Greatest Players

Before making a last-ditch effort at a comeback with the Milwaukee Bucks two years after his original retirement, Dave Cowens enjoyed a stellar career with the Celtics.

Cowens quickly made a name for himself during the 1970-71 season—his inaugural year in the league—averaging 17 points and 15 rebounds per game to go along with a modest 6.4 win shares. As a result, he wound up taking home the Rookie of the Year award and putting the rest of the league on notice.

In fact, just two years later, the 6'9" center played his way to both the All-Star Game and league MVP awards. That year, he posted career highs in points per game (20.5), rebounds per game (16.2) and win shares (12).

Ironically, though, Cowens wouldn’t win his first NBA title until the year after his MVP season. He’d ultimately finish his career with two championship rings to his name as well as the reputation for being one of the league’s tough guys during his era.

He’s often remembered as the guy who decked the Houston Rockets’ Mike Newlin back in 1976. Bill Simmons further explained the situation in his book, The Book of Basketball:

"

The ultimate Cowens moment happened when Mike Newlin flopped for a charge call on him. You didn’t do these things to Cowens; nobody valued the sanctity of the game more than he did. He berated the referee under the basket, didn’t like the guy’s response, screamed some more, then whirled around and spotted Newlin dribbling up court. Sufficiently enraged, he charged Newlin from behind at a 45-degree angle, lowered his shoulder like a football safety and sent poor Newlin sprawling into the press table at midcourt. ... While pieces of Newlin were still rolling around the parquet floor like a shattered piggy bank, Cowens turned to the same referee and screamed, “Now that’s a (expletive) foul!”

"

It’s worth mentioning Cowens was not thrown out of that game. Oh, how times have changed.

2. Robert Parish (1980-94)

JON CHASE/Associated Press

Career Averages with the Celtics: 16.5 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 55.2 FG%

Win Shares: 122.4

Titles: 4

One of NBA's 50 Greatest Players

Having played the most games in NBA history (1611), Robert Parish had plenty of time to sprinkle his name throughout the league’s record books. He’s among the all-time leaders in total blocks (11), rebounds (8), points (30) and win shares (24).

He also has four NBA titles to his credit, three of which he won as the third leg of the original Big Three in Boston.

Parish’s contributions are sometimes overlooked due to the fact that he played with two other Hall of Famers in Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.

But Parish was truly a jack-of-all-trades type of player for the Celtics. He consistently stuffed the stat sheet and averaged at least 12 points, eight rebounds and a block per game in 15 of his 21 professional seasons.

That’s unheard of, especially when you consider that he also averaged at least a double-double and a block in 10 of those same 15 years.

There’s a reason why Parish is ranked here as the second-greatest center in Celtics history. Had he played for any other franchise, he may have been ranked No. 1, but the competition at the top is pretty stiff.

1. Bill Russell (1956-69)

J.D. Lamontagne/Associated Press

Career Averages with the Celtics: 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 44.0 FG%

Win Shares: 163.5

Titles: 11

One of NBA's 50 Greatest Players

Where to start with Mr. Russell?

Arguably the greatest center to ever play the game, Bill Russell won more championships (11) than anyone else in league history. He’s also tied for second place with Michael Jordan for the most MVP awards won in a career with five, ranks second all-time in total rebounds (21,620) and is 19^th in career win shares (163.5). That doesn't even mention the strong likelihood that he’s recorded more blocked shots than anyone else in league history (blocks weren’t tallied until the 1973-74 season).

What makes these gaudy totals even more unreal is the fact that he accumulated them in just 13 seasons. He was only 34 years old when he called it quits after the 1968-69 season, and you have to wonder what his numbers would have looked like had he played three or four more years.

I could go on and on about Bill Russell. But nothing I say could completely illustrate the true greatness this man achieved both on and off the basketball court.

He embodies what it means to be a Celtic, and not only is he the greatest center in Celtics history, but he’s also the greatest player in Celtics history.

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