The Boston Celtics are the reigning NBA champions. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2023-24 Finals to earn their 18th title, the most in the history of the league. The Celtics are one of the most recognisable basketball teams in the NBA, even to those who are not even familiar with the sport or the league.
With their famous green uniforms and their pipe-smoking Leprechaun mascot, the Celtics are almost a larger-than-life sporting juggernaut that has created countless legendary players. Boston have bossed their long-standing rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers, holding a 9-3 record over them from 12 previous clashes in the NBA Finals.
The Boston Celtics have really embraced the Irish theme and have made it their own unique and epic sports brand. But why exactly is a sports team located in the US state of Massachusetts called the ‘Celtics’? How did they get to the point of adopting the Irish theme to create this world-renowned identity?
Did they just appropriate an entire culture by a random pick? Did they do it in an attempt to capture the wide market of Irish people looking for an NBA team to support? Or did they just want to tap into the good old ‘Luck of the Irish?’
In this article, we explore the origins of the team and look at how one of basketball’s greatest franchises came to take on its very Gaelic name.
Why the Celtics?
The word ‘Celtic’ refers to the Celts, the ancient European people, who were predominantly the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Bretons, but also included peoples from across mainland Europe. In general terms, Celtic can also mean something related to, or being in the style of, the Celts.
There are various stories surrounding the origins of the naming of the basketball team, and here are the most commonly accepted theories as to why the team are known as the Boston Celtics.
Theory 1 – Just a random choice
As the story goes (and this is the one that has been accepted in something of an official capacity) that the team name came about on the spur of the moment. The founder of the basketball franchise, Walter Brown, was tossing around names that could be used for his new team, hashing things out with PR officer Howie McHugh in the 1940s.
Names such as the Olympics, Unicorns and Whirlwinds were put forward and none of them managed to stick. Instead, the name Celtics was said to have come to Brown in a moment of inspiration and it was announced in the now much-repeated quote: “The Celtics.. Boston is full of Irishmen. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.”
Given that Boston was indeed full of Irishmen, the name stuck, the franchise was built, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history. In the 1950s, the Boston Celtics’ iconic logo was drawn up and then those famous green uniforms and catchphrases such as ‘bleed green’ became woven into the fabric of the franchise.
Theory 2 – Boston was built by the Irish
The general identity of newly formed basketball teams in America was heavily reliant on their respective neighbourhood. Tapping into the local scene was important for a new franchise to align themselves with fans for support. The story of how Boston got their team name has a strong element of this.
Boston was a hub for Irish immigrants who were looking to escape the exploitation of landlords in their home country. The 1847 famine triggered the exodus to Boston, where the fledgling city saw more than 7,000 immigrants arrive at its port.
Many Irish immigrants sought refuge in Boston as there was paid work for them there, along with the dream of owning their own land and property. There was economic stability to be reached, but, of course, the immigrants had to start at the bottom and needed to fight tooth and nail for their survival in the new land. They did so, with the men taking the low-paying, unskilled jobs and the women going into domestic service.
Even in the face of discrimination from Americans, the Irish began to forge strong communities in the Boston area. They leaned on their family bonds and their faith to build schools and businesses to secure their future, and became an established part of Boston society.
In 1884, Boston elected its first Irish mayor, Hugh O’Brien, and by 1885, there were more Irish immigrants and their children in Boston than the entire population of the city was in 1845. Numbers from the most recent US census revealed that 20% of people in Boston claim Irish heritage.
Roots were set
So, by the time Walter Brown was dreaming up his new NBA franchise, the Irish influence in Boston was already heavy. It was prominent, and it’s easy to see from there, once Brown had spawned the idea, that it took on a life of its own.
By calling the team the ‘Celtics’, the franchise firmly integrated itself as an important part of the community. With no other team carrying an Irish identity, and with no other area carrying such a strong influence of Irish immigrants as Boston, it all came together.
Theory 3 – The Original Celtics
Still, even with the NBA franchise taking on the Irish identity, why was it the ‘Celtics’ name that was chosen? The answer comes from the ‘Original Celtics’, a former team from New York.
Who were the Original Celtics?
During the 1920s, the Original Celtics were dominant and while the franchise didn’t last long, it had a remarkable existence. The team was mostly built from players from the West Side of New York and most had come from a previous team, the New York Celtics, who were shut down due to World War I.
The Original Celtics, whose emblem was a simple shamrock on a white shield, are cited as being the founders of modern basketball for their style and power. They won the Eastern Basketball League in their first season and landed the American Basketball League twice in the following three years.
Staggeringly, during a season of more than 200 matches, the Original Celtics finished with a 193-11-1 record, winning more than 90% of all their fixtures. Within a decade they had crumbled, but to back up their part in Boston’s origin story, it’s reported that Celtics founder Walter Brown said during his naming epiphany that “The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York.”
Have the Boston Celtics ever had an actual Irish player?
Unfortunately, the Irish link with the Boston Celtics has never translated to an influx of Irish-born players making the team. In fact, Ireland’s only ever NBA player, Pat Burke (who was born in Dublin), had a short career in the top league, appearing in 139 games during his time with Orlando and Phoenix in the early 2000s.
Boston’s most famous Irishman
Probably the most famous Irishman to have appeared for the Celtics is sat on their logo and is known as ‘Lucky the Leprechaun’. The Boston Celtics’ logo features a mischievous-looking leprechaun wearing a waistcoat, bow tie and hat adorned with shamrocks. The character is posed with a pipe in his mouth while balancing a basketball on his right index finger.
With his other hand, he is leaning on his shillelagh, and one of the most noticeable things about the character is his mischievous grin. The logo is likely an embodiment of the public view of the stereotypical Irishman in America during the 1950s.
Boston’s most famous Irishman is brought to life on game night. The team mascot can be seen running around the court waving a giant flag, cheering on the home crowd at TD Garden, and helping to create the famous atmosphere in the building.
Irish-American players
While no Irish-born player has made it onto the Boston Celtics team, there have been plenty of Irish-American players who have done it. One of the most notable of these is power forward Kevin McHale, who collected three NBA Championship rings with the franchise during the 1980s. McHale, who has Irish ancestry from his father’s side, was part of the so-called ‘Big Three’ alongside Larry Bird and Robert Parish.
Chuck Connors was of Irish descent and was one of the members of the Boston Celtics’ original line-up in the 1946-47 season. An interesting fact is that Connors was the first professional NBA player to break the backboard during a game. Connors, who went on to be an actor, also played baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
Other teams aligning with the Celtics
The Boston Celtics aren’t the only sporting franchise to have tapped into their Irish roots. Arguably one of the most famous teams to have done so is Scottish football giants Glasgow Celtic, who were formed in the east of the city for the Irish Scots there.
Hibernian is another Scottish club with Irish roots, formed by Edinburgh’s Irish community. Hibernian took their name from the old Latin word for Ireland, ‘Hibernia’. Spanish football side Celta Vigo was formed in 1923, and the Galician club took its name from the Celtic people who once lived in that region.
London Irish, once a Premiership Rugby side in England before they went into administration, was created to give Irish people a chance to play the sport. They took their inspiration from the already formed London Welsh and London Scottish sides.
Another major sporting team that has tapped into the Celtic theme is the Fighting Irish from the University of Notre Dame in the US. The Catholic university is located in the Midwest state of Indiana, and the origins of the team’s name are less clear.
Stories as to why they are called the Fighting Irish range from the college football team adopting the moniker because of having to ‘fight back’ against Irish slurs by other teams, to a former president of the university who had served with the Irish Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Despite all of that, they’re a good team if you fancy a punt
Certainly, the most simple conclusion is that owner Walter Brown came up with the idea, and that this was inspired not only by the former Original Celtics, but also by the background of the Irish immigrants in the area.
So, as with most things, it’s a melting pot of factors. But regardless of how it all began, and how their name was pulled out of the air, the Boston Celtics are a behemoth of the NBA. Their first championship was earned in 1957 and now, right up to the present day, they are the team defending the title in the new 2024-25 season.
The Celtics are positioned as massive preseason favourites to pull off yet another title-winning season under head coach Joe Mazzulla, who can call upon star players such as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams and Kristaps Porzingis.
Across the course of the new season, you will see the Celtics priced up often as match favourites, especially when they have home-court advantage. So, it’s good that you can find a variety of basketball betting markets at Tonybet.
You can explore options such as the Total Points and the Points Handicaps for the Celtics matches, and even break the game down by betting on quarters and halves with spreads and totals. Also, don’t forget the live in-play betting options, which incorporate further options such as the Winning Margin, Draw No Bet and Winner & Point Total markets. The NBA betting coverage at Tonybet is available for every match of the new season, including the Playoffs and Finals.
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