The trade for Bill Walton put the Boston Celtics over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The greatest team in the history of the Boston Celtics was the 1985-’86 squad. This edition boasted one of the deepest frontcourts of all time with Robert Parish at center, Kevin McHale at power forward, and Larry Bird at small forward in the starting lineup.
There was one offseason move that put the Celtics over the top of the league. After the Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in 1985, President Red Auerbach knew he had to upgrade the bench. The starting unit played over 2,500 minutes during the season and they were exhausted when they had to play the Lakers who were bent on exacting revenge for letting the series in 1984 slip away. The Celtics sent Cedric Maxwell to the Los Angeles Clippers for 6-foot-11-inch’Bill Walton.
Walton was an extraordinarily gifted passer and he had put up Hall of Fame statistics throughout his career. The issue with Walton was he could not stay on the ...
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August 21, 2012
