The Boston Celtics are a storied franchise in more than just sports.
Many of its most ardent fans are not aware that Boston has deep historical ties to integrating African-American players into the sport of basketball, having fielded not only the first African-American player (Chuck Cooper, 1950), but also the first all-African-American starting five (K.C. Jones, Willie Naulls, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones and Bill Russell, 1964, under Red Auerbach) and the league’s first African-American coach (Bill Russell, 1966).