‘Everything fell apart’ – Larry Bird exposed why the Boston Celtics suffered a downfall after winning 1986 NBA title

The 22-year championship drought the Boston Celtics endured after 1986 would have been unfathomable in the 1980s.

After the Celtics clinched the 1986 NBA championship, they cemented themselves as one of the league’s finest ever teams, however, that iteration of the franchise would never taste success again.

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The 1986 Celtics team had it all.

Larry Bird had just won another MVP in 1986, Kevin McHale had just enjoyed an efficient scoring campaign, former Chicago Bulls man Robert Parish proved to be an anchor at center, and Dennis Johnson was an elite guard.

Not to mention, Bill Walton, who, despite injuries, stayed healthy and was the ever-reliable sixth man they needed.

With that in mind, it’s no shock that the Celtics stormed to a 67-15 regular season record that year, losing only one game at home.

And despite a difficult playoff campaign, they overcame the Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Houston Rockets to take the 1986 title.

Everything began to go wrong for the Celtics

However, as they basked in the highs of their third NBA title in five years, the conclusion of that season marked the beginning of a stunning downfall.

Walton’s ability to stay fit disappeared, meaning the starting bigs had to carry a much heavier load during the regular season the next year.

Then you had the death of their lottery pick, Len Bias.

The Celtics used the second overall pick in the draft to select the forward from Maryland, who many touted to be a superstar.

But before Bias had even practised with the team, he died from a cocaine overdose.

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The news rocked the NBA and especially Boston, as suddenly a future franchise superstar was gone.

Bird described the multiple setbacks the Celtics faced that year in his 1999 book “Bird Watching.” 

“After that 1986 championship, everything fell apart,” Bird wrote.

“[Bill] Walton stuck around another season, but he was hurt almost all of it, and he retired after playing only ten games in 1987.

“The Celtics drafted Len Bias that spring, and he died of a cocaine overdose.

“That was a real shock. I was taking a shower, and my mom came in and told me. I thought it was somebody’s idea of a cruel joke.”

Celtics did reach the NBA Finals in 1987

Despite everything, Boston did go all the way to the NBA Finals, where they met their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, there was no way they were winning that series.

McHale had a broken foot, Walton was still injured, and their bench was shallow.

Not to mention Bird, along with his healthy teammates, had played way more minutes than usual heading into the Finals, so by the time the series began, it was clear this was a tired team.

For the rest of the 80s, the Celtics were a team full of stars on paper, but were past it, still trying to squeeze one more last run.

And in the end, they didn’t, as 1986 would be the last championship the Celtics would win until 2008.