1967-68 Boston regains title as Russell becomes coach/player
Another two teams joined the NBA: Seattle and San Diego, which were
placed in the Western Division, while Detroit was moved to the East. The NBA's
schedule was now 82-games.
ABA was born, with 11 teams, playing a 78-game schedule. Major cities which
could not afford to have an NBA team joined in the new league. George Mikan
became its first Commissioner, and Rick Barry decided to sign with the Oakland
club.
In the NBA, Detroit's Dave Bing became the first guard to lead the NBA in
scoring since 1948. But the greatest was the return of the Celtics, who came
back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Eastern Finals over the Lakers. With his
decisions and play, Russell had proven that he had a talent for coaching.
Bailey Howell, forward who arrived in Boston just in time to see the Celtics'
reign, had contibuted to that success. He was determined to bring a title back
to Boston and make it its hometown.
He commented later: "Everywhere we went, especially in Philadelphia, we
heard: `Boston's gone and dynasty is dead'. But it just made us more determined
and helped us to play".
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