Q. How does a team go from a 39-33 record and a speedy three-game exit in the 1956 playoffs to a championship the next season? Bob Ryan: You get an impactful infusion of talent. Start with the greatest rookie duo ever in Rookie of the Year Tom Heinsohn and Most Valuable Player of the Century Bill Russell (who didn’t join the team until December after playing in the Melbourne Olympics). Then add returning soldier Frank Ramsey (like the other two, a Hall of Famer). Put them out there with Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, the premier backcourt of the 1950s, and let ‘em go. It will forever be difficult to top the drama of the first Celtics title.
