Tommy Heinsohn and Dave Cowens stated that they thought Havlicek was better than Bird.
John Havlicek was coached by Tommy Heinsohn of the Boston Celtics, and Heinsohn feels that Havlicek should be given more credit for all of his on-court achievements.
At the age of 79, Havlicek, the all-time top scorer for the Celtics, passed away on Thursday. He was a 13-time All-Star and won eight titles with the Celtics, including MVP honors in the 1974 Finals. However, at times, the times he lives in eclipse his achievements.
With the Celtics, he is still the all-time top scorer, isn’t he? Heinsohn pondered Havlicek’s legacy and questioned. And with good reason. Indeed, he gets lost in the controversy surrounding the previous Celtics title runs. While I was coaching, he truly rose to prominence, having been a sixth man on teams in the 1960s. As you can see, a true star. He was always all defense and all pro, or whatever he was. He was really that great of a player.
At age 79, Celtics star John Havlicek passes away.
Furthermore, it is surprising that he did not receive more recognition for it. Larry Bird was an incredible player, and while everyone still talks about him, John Havlicek is a formidable opponent.
Havlicek’s No. 17 jersey, which is kept in the rafters of TD Garden, is owned by one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players. Even though Heinsohn is convinced that Havlicek’s greatest legacy is putting the team ahead of himself, even when he was the star, he is remembered as one of the best sixth men in the history of the game.
And there was no better example of that than in the 1974 Finals, when Havlicek accepted the role of a scapegoat in a crucial Game 7.
You always consider Havlicek’s ball theft to be a significant event, though. But let’s go back to when we defeated Milwaukee, using him as a ruse,” Heinsohn remarked. “Now, the team’s star player is here, and we wanted him to play a decoy. Most guys, I think, wouldn’t want to do that. However, it was the kind of person he was—one who would do anything just because you asked him to. Even if he might not agree with what you were doing, he would still chat to you about it and never argue with you. However, you could persuade him to try it.
“Therefore, during the road game seven of the playoffs, I’m asking.
Everyone was a little dejected by the time we reached the championship game after losing in overtime at the Garden, according to Heinsohn. “I don’t know why you don’t double-team them,” Bob Cousy said to me as my assistant coach and I were discussing the game in the office. “Well, Cooz, no. 1, nobody else plays him like we have,” I remarked, adding that it was the seventh game. It’s functioning pretty well, in my opinion. However, everything you did was countered in the next game you played, including the coaching and adjustments made by the opposing squad. After playing for a long time, I made the decision to try and figure out how to keep the crowd out of the game.
We did a drill session on Saturday, practiced on Sunday, and played on Friday. On Saturday, I doubled Kareem Abdul-Jabar after switching up the defensive. And I didn’t double him because I thought that was the best method to defeat him. But I realized that since they would be completely perplexed by what we were doing, we might be off to a good start. And as it turned out, we led by 17 points, and the winning factor was the defense. I don’t know who ended up being our big scorer, but Havlicek had been our main man. Nevertheless, we were up 17 points early and won the seventh game on the road with relative ease. Havlicek, however, was asked to.
In 1962, Havlicek was selected by both the NBA’s Cleveland Browns and the NBA’s Celtics out of Ohio State. Havlicek tried his luck as a wide receiver with the Browns before signing with the Celtics, where his endless enthusiasm won Red Auerbach over.
“We were the league’s best fast-break, up-tempo squad. Naturally, Russell and I both grabbed rebounds, while Cousy made the passes. Heinsohn stated, “Havlicek was the ideal player to play on a fastbreak team and he was one of Cousy’s favorite targets. Cousy had this hook pass, three-quarter length hook pass on the fly. “I believe he averaged 14 points per game in his debut campaign and didn’t attempt more than 10 shots.
However, [Havlicek] emerged in the next season, improved his outside shooting, picked up how to dribble, and became a more useful player overall. He was also always a superb defensive player. Red selected him in the first round of the draft in part because he had watched him play for Ohio State, where he was an underappreciated player. When he joined the Celtics, you could see he was an excellent athlete, but he was as inexperienced as grass. He shared a room with me. I was assigned to be his roommate by them. He was a genuine Midwesterner man. I can only tell you that. His ideals were from the Midwest, so I had to make him a little more lively.
Heinsohn quips that he got Havlicek interested in Lancers.
Red would never yell at a player in the first year if they were to play in a lineup. Heinsohn remarked, “He’d hardly speak to you, just go out and do it. “And nobody ever shouted boo to John, especially Red, who had a fantastic first year. Come into the locker room at halftime of his first game of his second season, and Red Auerbach is all on him. Red Auerbach said that Havlicek did not accomplish anything well.
Havlicek took it to heart because he was such a sincere person. Red suddenly burst his bubble and caused it to burst. John’s head is lowered the entire time we’re moving to the ground. “John, relax,” I whispered as I grasped him. He’s just shouting at you and doing what you already know. You are no longer a novice. You must get in shape. Proceed to engage in the game. And he carried it out. However, Red operated in this manner. And Havlicek was so concentrated on his work that no one ever yelled at him, John. He was so concentrated on his game while he was playing for me and I was teaching that I doubt he was aware of the Vietnam War.
Heinsohn recalls that Havlicek, with his seemingly limitless vitality and unusually low heart rate, was tested at Harvard Medical School. “They never saw anything like it,” Heinsohn remarked. Heinsohn claimed that Havlicek had no need of inspiration to continue the Celtics’ winning tradition.
You knew John Havlicek was intent. Heinsohn remarked, “You didn’t have to go tell him the Knute Rockne story.” “Havlicek enjoyed his victory. He and Dave Cowens were the main players on the team I coached. They were both unique players. Havlicek was the team’s main offensive weapon. He was the offense’s main component.
He was the offense’s main component. He was almost the man of all the major plays. In terms of defense, I recall the first preseason game we had with [Julius Erving], and the four times Dr. J attempted to drive on him, Havlicek stole the ball from him. We were gushing about Dr. J when it occurred to me, “Whoa, Havlicek has his number.”
Of course, the well regarded “Havlicek Stole the Ball” scene from the 1965 Eastern Conference finals may have been Havlicek’s most famous moment.
Heinsohn stated, “Bill Russell made a big mistake. “He attempted to inbound the ball when he struck the guide wire, and if he succeeds, we most certainly won. However, he turned the ball over, giving Wilt Chamberlain and Philadelphia an opportunity to defeat us. At that point, the game was tied at one, so they requested a timeout.
“Hey, man, what a mess I made,” Russell exclaimed in the huddle. GARY TANGUAY: John Havlicek: A thank you. Get me off the hook, please. We broke apart and went outside. Havlicek, being as astute a defender as he was, told me and everyone else afterwards that he was counting from one to four and that he went in search of. the ball and found it. Because of his accurate defense, we were able to defeat Wilt. He made a fantastic play and passed it to Sam Jones.