The Boston Celtics are one of the most successful franchises in NBA history, with a record 17 championships (tied with the Los Angeles Lakers). While the team has had many dominant stretches, winning back-to-back NBA Finals is a rare and historic feat—one that Boston has accomplished, but not in the modern era.
The last time the Boston Celtics won back-to-back NBA championships was in the 1968 and 1969 seasons.
In 1968, the Celtics, led by player-coach Bill Russell, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in six games to capture their 10th title in 11 years. In 1969, Boston repeated as champions, once again defeating the Lakers—this time in a dramatic seven-game series. The Celtics entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the East but made a stunning run to the title, capped off by a Game 7 victory in Los Angeles. It was Bill Russell’s final game as both a player and a coach, and the win marked the end of an era.
This two-year stretch capped a run of eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966 and established Boston as the dominant force of the NBA’s early decades.
Since 1969, the Celtics have won titles in 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, and 2008—but none of those were back-to-back victories. While the team has frequently contended, the elusive back-to-back championship streak remains a mark of the dynasty days under Bill Russell.
As the Celtics aim for another championship in the modern era, fans continue to look back on those golden years as a standard for greatness.
