Listing the 6 Boston Celtics players to have won a gold medal at the Olympics
The Boston Celtics are a team as old as the NBA itself and so it is only natural that players from the Celts roster have won gold at the Olympics. The team has won 17 championships over the duration of its existence and boasts of six players to have won the gold medal at the Olympic games.
The United States of America has won its fourth consecutive gold in Olympic basketball. Playing against France, a team they had lost to at the start of the tournament, Team USA showed their strength on the court. They defeated France with relative comfort and dismantled the French defense with their aggressive offensive plays.
6 Boston Celtics players who have won a gold at the Olympics
Today, in celebration of Team USA's utter dominance in the Olympic games and the legacy of the Boston Celtics, and its contribution to the game of basketball, we will list six players from the Celts that have won a gold medal.
#1 Clyde Lovelette (1952)
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame star played for the Boston Celtics for two seasons. During his time with the Greens, he won two NBA Championships and averaged 6.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Clyde is one of only two players to have won a ring with the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers.
Clyde was a dominant player in his prime. A 6' 9" center, he was an efficient close range shooter and had a lethal hook shot. During his Olympic gold medal run, the Boston Celtics star met the gold-hungry Soviet Union in the finals after defeating Argentina in the semis. In a slow-paced, low scoring finals game, the game clock read 36-25 in Team USA's favor and Clyde Lovelette won his only Olympic gold.
#2 K.C. Jones (1956)
The legend of K.C. Jones in the medieval world would have motivated minstrels to write songs about his victories. As a Boston Celtics point-guard, Jones won 8 consecutive NBA Championship rings. As an assistant coach, he won one. As a head coach, he won two. They are all with Celts.
His proficiency as a lockdown guard was unrivaled. He'd stick to players like a magnet to the fridge, forcing them to make mistakes and lose possession. He was the epitome of a support player. Nothing mattered to him more than winning. His tip-toe antics while stealing and his winning mentality while playmaking were the underappreciated superpower of the Boston Celtics during his career.
At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Team USA, with Jones on its roaster, won all of its games to take home the gold medal. They fought against Uruguay in the semis and won 101-38. In the finals, Jones met a Soviet Union team wounded by a nine-point loss in the 1952 Olympics. They were beaten again by the American players. The scorecard at the end of the game read 89-55.
#3 Bill Russell (1956)
If K.C. Jones was the shadow of the 50s and 60s Boston Celtics, Bill Russell was the light. The 6' 10" center was a devil under the paint. In his debut season for the Celts, Russell averaged 19.6 rebounds and 14.7 points per game and won his first championship in his second season. From 1959 to 1960, he won eight consecutive rings with the Boston Celtics.
The five-time MVP won 11 championships in his NBA career and averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game. He is widely regarded as the greatest defensive player of all time. His dominance around the bucket was scary. He could swat high arching balls with ease and collect all boards.
During the 1956 Olympics, Bill Russell-led Team USA dominated the tournament. The team won every game with an average winning margin of 53.5 and Bill Russell won the coveted Olympic gold medal.