when did the boston celtics win their first championship?
1965 NBA Finals
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 The following year , the Lakers and three other NBL franchises jumped to the fledgling Basketball Association of America . Mikan led his new league in scoring , and again set a single @-@ season scoring record . The Lakers defeated the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals . 

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 Anchored by defensive stalwart Russell , the tough Celtics forced their opponents to take low @-@ percentage shots from farther distances ( there was no three @-@ point arc at the time ) ; misses were then often grabbed by perennial rebounding champion Russell , who then either passed it on to elite fast @-@ break distributor Cousy or made the outlet pass himself , providing their sprinting colleagues opportunities for an easy slam dunk or layup . Auerbach also emphasized the need for role players like Frank Ramsey and John Havlicek , who became two of the first legitimate sixth men in NBA history , a role later succeeded in by Don Nelson . Auerbach 's recipe proved devastating to the opposition . From 1957 to 1966 , the Celtics won nine of ten NBA championships . This included eight consecutive championships — which is the longest championship streak in North American sports — and six victories over the Los Angeles Lakers of Hall @-@ of @-@ Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in the NBA Finals . The streak also denied perennial scoring and rebounding champion Wilt Chamberlain a title during Auerbach 's coaching reign . 

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 After World War II , professional leagues were founded in many Latin American nations , most prominently Venezuela ( 1946 ) and the Dominican Republic ( 1955 ) . Since the early 1970s , the annual Caribbean Series has matched the championship clubs from the four leading Latin American winter leagues : the Dominican Professional Baseball League , Mexican Pacific League , Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League , and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League . In Asia , South Korea ( 1982 ) , Taiwan ( 1990 ) , and China ( 2003 ) all have professional leagues . 

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 The Boston Red Sox , a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball in 1901 , play their home games at Fenway Park , near Kenmore Square in the city 's Fenway section . Built in 1912 , it is the oldest sports arena or stadium in active use in the United States among the four major professional American sports leagues , Major League Baseball , the National Football League , National Basketball Association , and the National Hockey League . Boston was the site of the first game of the first modern World Series , in 1903 . The series was played between the AL Champion Boston Americans and the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates . Persistent reports that the team was known in 1903 as the " Boston Pilgrims " appear to be unfounded . Boston 's first professional baseball team was the Red Stockings , one of the charter members of the National Association in 1871 , and of the National League in 1876 . The team played under that name until 1883 , under the name Beaneaters until 1911 , and under the name Braves from 1912 until they moved to Milwaukee after the 1952 season . Since 1966 they have played in Atlanta as the Atlanta Braves . 

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 In 1954 , the NBA had no health benefits , pension plan , minimum salary , and the average player 's salary was $ 8 @,@ 000 a season . To combat this , Cousy organized the National Basketball Players Association , the first trade union among those in the four major North American professional sports leagues . Cousy served as its first president until 1958 . 
