SportsLogos.net
A glance at the Celtics' 1946 logo.The National Basketball Association (then the Basketball Association of America) was officially founded 65 years ago Monday at the Commodore Hotel in New York. The Boston Celtics were one of the 11 founding teams and owner Walter A. Brown picked the name Celtics from a group of finalists that included Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics (Good choice, Mr. Brown; even Providence, another of the founding teams, had a cool nickname as the Steamrollers).
The Celtics wouldn't play their first game until Nov. 5 and ultimately went 22-38, tying Toronto for the worst record in the six-team Eastern Division. Here's a look at that first-year roster, courtesy of Basketball-Reference, where all 20 players were rookies:
1946-47 Boston Celtics Roster and Statistics | Basketball-Reference.com via kwout