The biggest quandary that players have when coming to Boston is trying to find a number that hasn’t been retired. There have been 23 numbers retired by the Celtics, more than by any other team by far. We all know the numbers that are on the banners, but I thought that History Week would be a good time to discuss the players who wore those numbers.
Number 1 was retired on October 17, 1964 for the Celtics founder and the first owner of the franchise, Walter Brown. After succeeding his father as manager of the Boston Garden, he helped to found the Basketball Association of America in 1946, and was instrumental in merging the BAA and the National Basketball League into the National Basketball Association in 1949.