Who's Your All-Time Celtics Squad?

So there's this thing on ESPN Boston today saying that you can pick your all-time Celtics and Lakers starting 5's. And at first I was just like, yeah, whatever, cool. But then I looked at it. And that shit would be hard. How do you single out Celtics all-timers in a starting five? The Celtics are just too nasty to do that. Here's a closer look.

Candidates for Center: Dave Cowens, Ed Macauley, Robert Parish, Bill Russell.

Yikes. How do I pick one? They are all legendary. This is what I mean when I say the Celtics are too nasty. I'm going to pick Bill Russell, but I'm now leaving out these other three incredible basketball players. Guess beggers can't be choosers, though. The Pick: Bill Russell.

Candidates for Power Forward: Kevin Garnett, Tom Heinsohn, Kevin McHale, Paul Silas.

So here we go again. You were probably thinking that you could just start Parish and Russell and put one of them at PF. But how to I give one of these guys the bench? So here's why this one is tough. If we're talking about the KG from last night, he's obviously not an all-time Celtic. But the other three guys automatically get chosen from their prime years. So why can't KG? If we're talking about the prime of their careers, I'm going with the guy who brings the absolute unparalleled intensity to the game. The Pick: Kevin Garnett.

Candidates for Small Forward: Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Cedric Maxwell, Tom Sanders, Antoine Walker.

The last three guys there are basically non-factors. Because we've got who a lot of people out there will call the two greatest Celtics of all time. Larry and Paul. Don't jump on my back here. I know I can't pick Paul Pierce over Larry Bird. So the pick is Larry Bird. But Paul Pierce is one of the best Celtics ever. It's a shame he's battling the very best one. Paul is my sixth man off the bench, without a doubt in the world. The Pick: Larry Bird.

Candidates for Shooting Guard: Ray Allen, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Reggie Lewis, Bill Sharman.

Another tough one. The way Ray played last night, it's hard to say he's not an all-time Celtic. Guy is probably the best shooter in the history of the world. But again, we're going all-time Celtics here. And in fairness, "Havlicek stole the ball!" is the most memorable phrase in Celtics history. So as much as I hate to sit Suga Ray, it's gonna be John Havlicek. The Pick: John Havlicek.

Candidates for Point Guard: Tiny Archibald, Bob Cousy, Rajon Rondo, Dennis Johnson, JoJo White.

Wow. This is the toughest one of all. Five of the best players ever. You might say Rondo hasn't played long enough, but I'm not sure that's the factor here. I'm assembling a starting five, with the players in their prime, to be the greatest starting five of all Celtics... ever. And you can't go wrong with any of these guards. I have a little bit of a bias because I'm only old enough to have really watched one of them play. So call me crazy. But what I've seen from this guy is too special to turn down. Breaking Celtics records and winning championships. The Pick: Rajon Rondo.

Starting Five:

C - Bill Russell

PF - Kevin Garnett

SF - Larry Bird

SG - John Havlicek

PG - Rajon Rondo

I'm pretty satisfied. A nice mix of new era and old era. Flashy and traditional. I'm pretty happy with this team, especially with Pierce coming off the bench. Would toast the Lakers' all-time squad 10 days out of 7.

What do the fans think? Vote 1 for I'm crazy and this starting five is awful. Vote 5 for I nailed it and this is the all-time Celtics squad.