YouTube Gold: Boston Celtics And Cincinnati Royals Meet In The 1966 NBA Playoffs

The video isn’t perfect but it’s still wonderful to watch

Time is an interesting thing to consider. This video is from the 1966 NBA Playoffs and a series between the Boston Celtics and the Cincinnati Royals. You can see some true legends in Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam and KC Jones, Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and, on the bench, Red Auerbach in his final season as coach.

These guys were unbelievable, yet you see signs of an older era: Jerry Lucas taking a hook shot from the foul line. Oscar Robertson with an odd, sort of one-handed free throw. KC Jones clearly reluctant to use his off-hand when dribbling. And Bill Russell takes an outside shot, which isn’t by any means pretty.

Yet it’s 1966 and this video, with some flaws incidentally, is in color. And Julius Erving’s professional debut in the ABA is just six years away. Look how fast the game changed between 1966 and 1972!

And while it is a very different style of basketball, note that these guys get up and down the court in a big hurry. They move the ball beautifully too.

The game is about to take a seismic shift in a few years when Erving changes everything, but what Boston was doing wasn’t all that different from what the Celtics did in the 1980’s. It’s beautiful to see the beating heart of the game.