Once upon a time, the Boston Celtics were a dynasty.  After being formed in 1946 as part of the Basketball Association of America, the Celtics were one of the charter members of the newly formed NBA after the 1949 merger of the BAA and the National Basketball League.  The Celtics struggled out of the gate their first few seasons, but after Red Auerbach, the cigar smoking coach, took over the team, the Celtics began to flourish. 

After the Chicago Stags folded, Auerbach nabbed guard Bob Cousy in the dispersal draft.  He dealt future Hall of Famer Ed Macauley along with the rights to Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the 2nd overall pick in the 1956 draft.  That pick became University of San Francisco center Bill Russell.  He also acquired Tommy Heinsohn from Holy Cross, and Heinsohn would go on to be the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1957.  Russell did not join the club until midseason, as he was a member of the 1956 Olympic gold medal winning US basketball team.  That trio, along with John Havlicek a few years later, were the core of a Celtics dynasty.

From 1957 to 1969, a thirteen year span, the Celtics were in the NBA Finals twelve times and won eleven championships.  After winning in 1957 over the Hawks in seven games, they returned in 1958, only to drop the Finals to those same Hawks in six games. 

From 1959 to 1966, the Celtics won eight consecutive NBA titles.   This is the longest run in the history of pro sports for consecutive championship wins.  In that eight year span, the Celtics and the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers squared off six times.  It was the start of a bitter rivalry, one that would be reborn in the 1980s.  The only year the Celtics failed to make the Finals in that stretch was 1967, the year after Auerbach retired and Russell took over as coach.  They were knocked off in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Philadelphia 76ers.  They would rebound to win again in 68, and 69, before fading a bit.

The 70s were a bit of a dark time for Boston, with titles in 74 over the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led Milwaukee Bucks and in 1976 over the Phoenix Suns the lone championship runs.  After a 32-50 season in 1977-78, Havlicek, the last cog in that championship engine, retired, and the Celtics seemed rudderless.  Auerbach held two of the top 8 picks in the 78 draft, and promptly selected Larry Bird, a tall, lanky player from Indiana State.  Back then, if you drafted a player, you maintained his draft rights for a year.  After the 1978-79 college season, where Bird's Indiana State Sycamores fell to Michigan State and their star, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Bird signed with the Celtics, and none too soon.  See, in that 78-79 campaign, the Celts were 29-53.  With Bird, M.L. Carr, Chris Ford and Gerald Henderson, the C's improved 32 games, to 61-21.  Two seasons after Bird was drafted, Boston won another title, in 1981 over the Rockets.  That came after acquiring Robert Parish and the 3rd overall pick in the 1980 draft from the Warriors, in exchange for the 1st and 13th selections.  The 3rd pick was Kevin McHale, and the Bird/Parish/McHale triumvirate carried the Celtics through the 80s and into the early 90s. 

The Celtics would win again in 1984 and 1986, losing in 1985 to the Lakers.  They picked Maryland forward Len Bias with the second overall pick in 86, only to see him overdose on cocaine and die before ever suiting up.  Couple that with the death of Reggie Lewis in 1993, and the Celtics went into a tailspin.  Between 1992-93, Lewis and Bird's last with the team, and 2001-02, the Celtics never won more than 36 games, including a dreadful 15-67 mark in 1996-97.

That brings us to this year. 

After a dreadful stretch last season, where they went 2-22 from December to early February, a stretch that included a franchise record 18 game losing skid en route to a 24-58 finish, the Celtics focused on rebuilding.  After obtaining the 5th pick in the draft through the lottery, they dealt that, along with Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to the Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen and the 35th overall selection.  On the 31st of July, the Celtics traded for 10-time All-Star and 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett in the single largest trade for one player in league history.  Boston shipped Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Boston's 2009 first round pick, the conditional first rounder Minnesota sent in the 2006 Ricky Davis/Szczerbiak deal, and cash considerations.

How has it worked out for the teams involved?  Well, let's look at the standings.  The Sonics are 9-21 in their rebuilding stage with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green anchoring the club.  Minnesota is a league worst 4-25, and are just 1-15 on the road.  The Celtics?

After last night's 104-98 road win over the Utah Jazz, they stand at 25-3, already surpassing their win total for all of last season.  The Pierce/Allen/Garnett trio has come together seamlessly.  Pierce averages a team leading 21.2 points a game, to go with 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.  Allen brings another shooting threat, and averages 19.1 points and 4 boards.  Garnett, no longer having to be option 1, 2 and 3 on offense, has seen his scoring drop, but his inside presence helps the C's.  He has averaged 18.7 ppg, with 10.4 boards a contest as well. 

Will this be the start of a new dynasty in Boston?  Perhaps not, but one thing is for certain, a return to prominence for one of the league's most storied franchises is always refreshing to see.