Great segment. The highlights show something that is often overlooked about the great 80's Celtics team: Robert Parish was the best center at running the floor in the 80's.
The 1985-86 Celtics are certainly one of the best teams ever and without any doubt in my mind the best passing team. The amount of depth and talent was amazing. The style of play was so damn entertaining too. The modern NBA has its strong points but I would go back to 1986. It was very special.
True......that team had too many weapons......Bird, McHale.........Parish ....and Walton for the back up? No team in history could beat them. ........The next year....they lost a lot though.
They did lose a lot in 87. The team was really beaten up. Practically everyone was hurt. That was the year Bird started having back issues too. It is too bad it had to end that way.
Well that's what I meant......team just got worn out. Then maybe.....the Lakers were just too good.........Jabbar just never seemed to get old. When the Lakers got Michael Thompson to back up Kareem....they were just too much for everyone.
Stan Akkerman Amen, Stan. Amen. Walton is and was like no other. Horrible shame about his foot injuries. He and Bird and their prime would be off the charts. Add DJ, McHale and Parish. Too much!
1983 Philadelphia 76er nba champion 🏆:: mose Malone own the backboard & basketball rim& net & dr.j healthy James tones ; Maurice cheek unbeatable; unvincible
2979/ 1980 l.a laker magic johnson before without / knee surgery & Kareem Abdul jabber in his prime;; Jamaal Wilkes would've welcome Larry bird & machiel Cooper handcuffs Larry bird:: laugh laugh
@@loydklineot sure about that buddy, it would have been a great series, the Celtics would beat them on the boards, tell me who's going to guard Walton, Parish, McHale and Bird? That's an unstoppable front line for the ages, the best ever! The best passing team ever, you can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them!
The 96 bulls are the most successful team ever but not the best. Jordan, pippen & rodman weren't in the primes anymore and greatly benefited from over expansion. In my opinion the 92 team was better with Jordan & pippen in their primes going against greater competition.
It brings tears to my eye that the recent Spurs are bring back selfless and intelligent basketball like the 80s Celtics, both team have the best half-court passing ever in NBA.
+nonrepublicrat That's not even reasoning, that's just hating. There's nothing about the Spurs to be hated, there's no one talking trash, no one boasting, no one selfish, everyone is humble, they respect their opponents, they're not record-seekers, and yet they've made the playoffs every year since TD entered the draft. If you hate the Spurs today, you would hate the 80s Celtics as well.
Alexander Villagran 87 Lakers were great but they didn't go 50-1 at home through the course of an entire season like the 86 Celts. The Celtics also played Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Hakeem Olajuwon in that playoffs by the way, all of whom would be dominant in the league still today.
+VancouverChokers 50-1 at home in 1986, but they lost 17 games on the road (including playoffs). The Lakers broke their home winning streak. The Celtics were always great at home, but so-so on the road. 40-1 in the regular season is great, but it is more important during the playoffs.
Alexander Villagran That great 87 Lakers team also lost to a Celtics team twice that was battered and hobbled with injuries and coming off two brutal wars against Milwaukee and Detroit. That 87 Boston team was a shell of the 86 team and still made LA sweat until Magic's sky hook in game 4.
+VancouverChokers Any team that reaches the NBA Finals is a threat. Why did a 1986 Houston Rockets team that only won 51 games in the regular season beat your great 1986 Rockets twice and three other games very close ( the only blow out game six). The Celtics in 1987 on their way to the final won 59 times in the regular season including 39-2 at home. So there was not too much of a difference between the 1986 1987 Celtics. The exception of course Scott Wedman did not play in the 1987 finals, but you added Darren Daye and Fred Roberts. It was almost the identical team that show up in 1987, the difference the Lakers were a much better team without Maurice Lucas and a much better team with Michal Thompson. Also, Magic, Worthy, Scott and Green reached their prime years. Jabbar and Rambis had slight declines.
Before Parish came to the Celtics, he was a relatively ineffectual player in Golden State. So the Warriors traded Parish and drafted Joe Barry Carrol who many thought might be the next great center. Well, Parish fit in great with the ball movement style of the Celtics and became a Hall of Famer. Bird had so many great assists that led directly to baskets by Parish (and McHale, of course), what a great combo.
Yes Jordan scored 63 points against the Celtics in one playoff game. So what. The Celtics won that game, and also won that series. Red Auerbach once said, "That's why they keep score. It's the team that scores the most points that wins the game, NOT the team who has the player who scores the most points in the game."
They make a very good point. A good passing team needs to be a good catching team. Parrish, McHale, Walton, 3 big guys with good hands. And unlike most big guys, they could catch the ball down at their knees. Every single member of that team was always ready to receive a pass. And they knew how to move. Bird gets all the credit when he stole the ball against Detroit in the playoffs, but it was DJ that instinctively moved to the basket in order to score the game winning lay up. Without DJ, Boston loses and Detroit goes to the finals. Team game.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT LARRY LEGEND COULDN'T HAVE FOUND A WAY TO GET A SHOT OFF? WRITING HIM OFF WAS THE FATAL MISTAKE OF ALL OF HIS OPPONENTS! LARRY LEGEND WAS MR. CLUTCH! THAT'S WHY LAKER SIXER & ROCKET FANS HATED HIM BUT RESPECTED HIM NONETHELESS! IF YOU DON'T RESPECT YOUR OPPONENT HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU R E S P E C T YOURSELF?
Yeah this team was amazing! I was only 9 back then, so i really didn't understand it like i do now because i was so young, their 40-1 home record has never been matched to this day.
My 2 fave teams ever were the 86 Celtics and the 71 Lakers (Wilt, Jerry West). Both teams played as a team although I agree that the 86 Celtics are the best passing team of all-time.
They make a good point. Great passing only works if the guys on the receiving end are alert and can handle a variety of different passes. Steve Nash grew frustrated in PHX because, in his last couple of years there, the guys the Suns had on the court could not catch the damn ball. He and Marcin Gorgat made some fine plays, but most of the team was simply not paying attention
Makes me realize how far the current Celtics have to go to be considered a great team. Athleticism, talent, intelligence - all 3 are needed for greatness. Athleticism is the least important of these. Give me a team of talented, intelligent players who put team success above individual success and you've got a championship caliber team.
The Celtics lost the championship the year before to my beloved Showtime Lakers! I had hoped that they would meet again in ‘86, but the Lakers failed to show after losing to the Olajuwon/Sampson led Rockets! The Rockets were demolished by the ‘86 Celtics in the finals! I hated those Celtics teams and still do! But I respect them especially Larry Bird! ☮️🖖🏽
Also add 82 Lakers and 84 Celts as well. Norm Nixon and Cedric Maxwell helped the Lakers and Celtics to 2 titles. Those two are often overlooked. Nixon should be in the Hall.
I think the mental process of passing is most challenging. All in the NBA have the physical talents but far fewer have the brains or the confidence in their teammates to give up the ball when the situation calls. Every player on the Celtics benefitted from Bird, DJ and Walton's gift of vision/passing and they all picked up on it.
Because they kicked every other team's butts! The '86 Celtics were so smooth and totally in tune with one another on the court, it was almost like watching a great ballet troupe. Just amazing, and so fun to watch!
Maybe the only thing I can remember besting the 86 celtics passing was that year san Antonio demolished the heat in the finals. Never saw passing and execution that efficient in my life. The heat had the best 3 players on the court, duncan was older, and they got stomped by 25 a game.
Once again, this is not fair : there was no DPOY before 83, and no defensive team before 69. His prime was in the mid 60's, not in 1969 (even if he was still very good). Finally, I'm not saying that Oscar was as good as Micheal (or any guy that we mentioned after), but you can't take stats to judge his defense, and there is no way his defense was pathetic, he actually was a good defender.
Still got swept... Some say KC Jones strategy was let Jordan get his, since it didn't worked so well, they changed for the following games. But like I've said, they still got swept and Jordan never won a playoff series against Bird.
I'm not talking about Dynasties right here, I'm talking about a team for a single season. This team only lasted for '86 since many players got hit by injuries, some retired, some were old and so on. The Celtics were great during the 80's, had an amazing Dynasty but this '86 was the epitome of it all, goat team imo
the best teams ever literally always have and will be the #1 celtics led by bill russell #2 the 76ers and #3 the warriors led by the goats tied being both wilt chamberlain and bill russell
the best teams ever literally always have and will be #1 tied the first 10 celtics championship teams and #2 the 1967 76ers led by the goats bill russell and wilt chamberlain
they joked about Walton but thay all knew when he was healthy Walton was better than all of them I had the pleasure of watching one of the greatest basketball players ever bill walton
+kern39743 No doubt in 1977 Walton was an all time great, but by 1986 way past his prime. Plus, he was a very limited offensive player. But, I agree a great defender, passer and very good rebounder in 1977.
+Alexander Villagran Walton shot a career high from the field in 1986 and had the 2nd-best FT shooting year of his career. He was a runaway 6th Man of the Year winner. Still the best-passing center in the game that year.
+sully3292 Yes, Walton had a great year in 1986. He was much better in Portland. I thought Bill Walton was one of the great centers in NBA history for the brief time he was in his prime. But, by 1986 he was past his prime. Not sure about the best passing center in the game in 1986. Jabbar was still an effective center in 1986.
Today's Spurs are also better than anyone, including that era's Celtics, at finding and developing talent. These Celtics are probably a better team than today's Spurs but the Spurs are without question better at finding and developing talent than anyone in pro sports today...and better at it than most teams in previous eras.
Are you telling me Bird and Magic's impact in a game could be stopped? I doubt it. Plus McHale was pretty much unstoppable in the post, they also had Parish. Look at the size and skill of that frontcourt, with Walton off the bench. The backcourt also good, and the greatest passing team ever. 96 Bulls or 72 Lakers wouldn't win in a 7game series against them.
as a hardcore spurs fan I agree this Celtics passing was awesome as I've put the spurs 2014 the beautiful game at number 2 behind Celtics the 2014 is the spurs best passing spurs team ever that's why they cruise to the tittle so easy but it's hard to tell if Celtics or spurs 2014 and 86 Celtics would win if they played eachother but I put Celtics at number one cause of no look passing with trickery on alot of plays to the hoop as bill Walton is tee. original best passing big man a very underrated player in my book just great personality like tim Duncan 😀😁🙆😊😉
***** I doubt it. Any team from the 80s would struggle to defend the way the 3 is used today. They have not played against a team where 4 or 5 players can take and make threes. And the warrior's defense was superb. Super crisp rotation, enormous ball pressure. Again the Celtics would not have seen anything like it in their days. And it is all underpinned by analytics. They would make analytics driven choices and adjustments that were not available back in the days. Basketball evolved and teams from the past would have a disadvantage.
omnivorous65 You make some valid points, but either the 2015 warriors travel back to 86 and lose all their modern advantages, or the celtics gain modern advantages by playing today. Just looking at rosters the 86 celts have five HOFamers. When it's all said and done how many guys from the 2015 warriors will make it? Just as the celtics would not be used to a team that jacks up 3 after 3 from every position, the warriors would not be used to anything like that celtics frontline in the low post (Marc/Zbo are far from Parish/Mchale). There is a reason, and it's NOT nostalgia, that in some order the top 3 teams of all time are usually considered to be the 87 lakers, 86 celts, and 96 bulls. The 2015 warriors are a great team, but they won't be remembered as an all time great team decades later. They are simply not in the same tier as the 86 celtics, hence I used the term "destroy". It won't be a crazy blow out, but the 86 celtics would win easily.
+elai314 id have to agree...furthermore, Id say let them take all the 3s they want...its a low % shot and Ill go with the team who primarily takes 2pters and hits well over 50% of them.
+dp233332 Damn…. someone should tell that to the NBA, somehow this nugget of information has been lost on all those folks.I don't think you are much into analytics, but they actually figured out that the 3 pointer is worth more than the a 2 point shot. And that is exploited in today's game to maximum effect. And teams like the Spurs and Warriors have 5-6 player who can shoot them at a high clip. Which is why they would beat teams of the 80ties. Simple math.
omnivorous65 they dont hit 3s at the %s that are high enough often enough collectively to beat teams of the 80s who were taking twos most of the time but hitting a much higher %...if what you are saying is true the scoring in the modern NBA wouldnt be so far below what it was during the 80s. the only reason the warriors won that series despite the terrible shooting they displayed for half that finals series was the total inability of their opponents...for all their great shooting it seemed like GS had two players at best on their entire team who were capable of scoring points consistently if at all during that series, the 2nd best of which Id be far more inclined to think of as a 2015 equivalent of danny ainge, who was the celtics 4th best scoring option at best.
One of the best for certain. However I don't think they are better than the 1986 Celtics. The Spurs actually made a couple passes in the playoffs this year that I thought weren't very good, but a lot of the time either the defense was so poor that no one even tried to make the steal (Ray Allen's D in particular was horrible in most of the finals) or Pop's offense was so good that it was basically impossible to defend against. Either way, that doesn't make the Spurs the best passing team. Great, for sure! But I think Celtics could have played the best Defensive team in the league without practicing any offense and still kill em with their passing.
I'm not a big Spurs fan but calling them garbage is asinine. One of the greatest teams in NBA history. Would love to see 2014 Spurs vs. 86 Celtics. Would be the most beautiful display of passing ever. 86 Celtics too big and too deep for the Spurs in my opinion, but who knows. Fun to debate.
I loved watching the 80's Celtics and in particular them when they were beating a Lakers team, but the best passing team I've witnessed were the Warriors 2015-2018.
@@Mrd9960 Friggin nimrod, eh? Everyone knows what happened to them in 2002. Everyone EXCEPT you it would seem. Maybe you should spend less time using child-like emojis and more time educating yourself.
Oscar was not a joke in 74. Check out Milwaukees record after he retired. His stats declined for 3 reasons. 1. Obviously age 2. Minutes but most importantly 3. He was deferring to Kareem when he moved to Milwaukee. Which is exactly how he tells it. Deferring to Kareem would not have reduced his blocks and steals as they did with points and assists. His decline in rebounds is a completely different story because the amount of rebounds available to grab reduced drastically during his career.
Yup! The Celtics were amazing! Today's NBA is boring and predictable. (I guess they're giving the people what they want: One 3-pointer after another.) I'd rather watch paint dry.
@@TheSands83 I'm 65 and watched the '86 NBA Finals back in the day. Don't know if you did, too, but check out some of those games if they're available. The Celts were jaw-droppingly beautiful to watch in that series. THAT would seal the deal for anyone wondering who the best NBA team in history was. Enjoyed your comments here - thanks!
@@321snoot i didn’t start watching nba until 87… but I’ve watched many Celtics games from that era… it’s just like watching surgery performed by a top surgeon n his team
@@TheSands83 Surgery performed by a top surgeon - great analogy! The way the Celts passed the ball so unselfishly during fast breaks, it was as if they were telepathic; rarely did the ball miss its mark. Most of those 86' Finals games are on RU-vid. Be good, mansonlamps.
Those knick teams with bill bradley,walt frazier,earl monroe,dave debusschere,willis reed.dick barnett,phil jackson,cazzie russell,dave stallworth,and co passed the ball as good as anyone too..
When Walton came to the Celtics he actually went to Robert parish's house to make sure he was cool with Walton being there. You can find the chief talking about that and also how Bill Walton got him and Larry and everybody but Danny ( that's cuz he's a p---+y) to go to a grateful Dead show
I think there's at least one player of today, 30 yrs on, who would wear a black Member's Only jacket like Bill's if they could find one in new in package, maybe on ebay.
You won’t like this - but the team that holds the record for most assists per game??? 1985 Lakers. You know the team that beat the Celtics? 😎 They had Magic and Kareem and Cooper and Worthy and Wilkes- all exceptional passers. For the Celts, Bird, DJ and Walton where great passers. McHale... was a ball hog, per Danny Ainge. 😂
you hear what Walton said, it's winning the game, not the person who's scoring. So Michael was a great scorer, so what? Michael was also very much younger than Dennis or dan ainge!
Look it up online then. There are many articles that mention Wilt passing up layups and shouting at teammates for missing shots that would give Wilt the assist. That doesn't make a great teammate, and that is not what passing is all about. I don't know what your fascination with defending Wilt is about, but the fact remains that despite his high assists number, he was not a good passer. He did it for the stats.
the best players ever literally always have and will be #1 tied wilt chamberlain and bill russell #2 oscar robertson #3 kareem abdul-jabbar #4 michael jordan #5 magic johnson #6 larry bird
I didn't say his defence was pathetic I said his defensive stats were. Not Fair? Jerry West, whose career was parallel, got 5 defensive team selections..... Oscar ZERO! What bugs me is when people say Oscar was the best all round player (or guard) of All Time when clearly he was NOT an elite defender in the way that Jordan was. Defence is HALF the game! Also pace inflated his scoring stats and during his triple double season each team averaged 72 boards. By reb% Magic was a better rebounder.
Nothing I said was a lie. I completely agree that Wilt is top 10 all-time player, but I refuse to believe that the Warriors got a better record because Wilt averaged 2.3 assists that season. I think it had more to do with his 37.6 ppg, which was incredible. When Wilt lead the league in assists, his team's record got worse from the year before. One point of passing is to help the team succeed, not hurt it's overall efficiency. Wilt was a selfish passer, if that makes sense. Only in it for stats
