Boston Celtics, American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts.

The "Celtics" nickname and the team's mascot "Lucky the Leprechaun" are nods to Boston's historically large Irish population, and also to the Original Celtics, a barnstorming basketball team that played in the early 20th century.

And so when it came time to picking a name, owner Brown said: "The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York. And Boston is full of Irishmen. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics!”

Many most strongly associated "Celtics" as Irish. When it comes to the team name, ironically, it comes from Boston's fiercest sports city rival: New York.