The Boston Celtics, who trail the Miami Heat 1-0 in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, got their nickname from Walter Brown, the team’s founder, who selected it when he founded the team in June 1946.
As one of the eight original members of the American Basketball Association, which merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association, Brown founded the team while serving as general manager of the Boston Garden, the sports complex that would host the Celtics’ home court until 1995.
In reference to Boston’s sizable Irish-American community, which was mostly brought about by a wave of immigration from Ireland in the 19th century, Brown named his team the Celtics. The Original Celtics, a well-known basketball team founded by Irish immigrants in New York early in the 20th century and disbanded in 1930, served as additional inspiration for the decision.
The Boston Celtics’ official NBA history states that Brown decided on the team’s moniker after speaking with Howie McHugh, a member of the Boston Garden’s publicity team. After a few teams were suggested, including the Olympics, the Whirlwinds, and the Unicorns, Brown finally remarked, “Wait, I got it: the Celtics.” They’ll be known as the Boston Celtics.
“The name has an amazing basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York,” Brown went on. There are a lot of Irishmen in Boston. They will wear green clothes and be referred to as the Boston Celtics. The nickname is believed to have left McHugh less than thrilled, but he was unable to convince Brown to drop it.
Boston’s strong Irish ties are further highlighted with the Celtics’ masco, Lucky the Leprechaun, and its usage of leprechaun and shamrock-themed trademarks.
Boston’s strong Irish ties are further highlighted with the Celtics’ mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun, and its usage of leprechaun and shamrock-themed trademarks.
The US Census Bureau’s most recent statistics indicates that 13.6% of the city’s just over 675,000 inhabitants identify as Irish. Nineteen percent of residents in the seven million-person state of Massachusetts—whose capital is Boston—report having Irish ancestry.
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