Don’t get me wrong; I was not a Boston Celtic fan, except for the times I watched with my Dad, because he really admired Bob Cousy and because he had watched a Celtic game or two in Madison Square Garden during the mid-1940s on a lay-over while on the way to “overseas WWII.” Oh, yeah, and we both liked watching the old coach, Red Auerbach, light up his “victory cigar.”
But back to the headliner, Tommy Heinsohn, who was a CELTIC through-and-through—he was with the Celts for all seventeen of its NBA Championships.
He was a player, coach, and broadcaster—and good at all of them as the
“ultimate” Celtic will always be remembered, at least in print!
Heinsohn was 84 years of age at his death and still very much a part of the team’s players and management—and he was definitely a HOMER and never apologized for being that way—in fact, he seemed to glory in that part of his broadcasting reputation!
Take a look at some of these statistical facts: a 1956 draft pick out of Holy Cross; out-polled teammate, Bill Russell, for Rookie of the Year that season; scored 39 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in game 7 of the NBA Finals against the St. Louis Hawks, the first of 8 titles in 9 years for the Celts, Heinsohn, and Russell; leading scorer in 4 of the Championship Seasons—RETIRED in 1965 with 12,194 points and 5,749 rebounds…..
…..and became a broadcaster for the team; in 1969 took over from Bill Russell as head coach and added championships in ’74 and ’76; in 1973, was Coach of the Year with a “then record” 68 games won in a single season; retired as coach in 1979 and again rejoined the team’s broadcast booth, where he remained a BIG FAN FAVORITE!
TOMMY HEINSOHN was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Player in 1986 and as a Coach in 2015! (And, I believe he could still have outplayed some of the up-and-coming recruits, who thought they were “hotshots!”)
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