| ||||||||||
| Dates | April 2–11 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hall of Famers | Celtics: Bob Cousy (1971) Bill Russell (1975) Bill Sharman (1976) Frank Ramsey (1982) Sam Jones (1984) Tom Heinsohn (1986 as player, 2015 as coach) K. C. Jones (1989) Satch Sanders (2011) Hawks: Bob Pettit (1971) Cliff Hagan (1978) Clyde Lovellette (1988) Lenny Wilkens (1989) Coaches: Red Auerbach (1969) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Celtics defeated Nationals, 4–1 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Hawks defeated Lakers, 4–3 | |||||||||
The 1961 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1961 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1960–61 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the fourth and final World Championship Series meeting between the two teams, and was the fifth meeting between teams from Boston and St. Louis for a major professional sports championship.[1] It was also the Celtics' fifth straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series against the Hawks, 4–1.
As of 2025, this remains the Hawks’[note 1] last appearance in the NBA Finals, the second-longest drought behind the Kings franchise who last played in the NBA Finals in 1951.
- ^ Flores Jr., Johnny (May 21, 2019). "Boston & St. Louis meet for 11th time, only two to meet in NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL finals". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).