Tommy Heinsohn: Among the Celtics luminaries, Havlicek is frequently disregarded

Tommy Heinsohn: Among the Celtics luminaries, Havlicek is frequently disregarded.

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.
“And, for him to be not recognized for that – I mean, everybody is still going gaga about Larry Bird, who was a great great player, but John Havlicek, you’d have a tough time beating him.”

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Havlicek’s No. 17 jersey, which is displayed in the TD Garden rafters, is owned by one of the 50 best players in NBA history. Though Heinsohn is certain that Havlicek’s greatest legacy is putting the team before himself, even when he was the star, he is known 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.

“Well, you always consider Havlicek’s ball theft to be a significant event. 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, after all, 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. Although he might not agree with what you were doing, he would still chat to you about it and never argue with you about anything. However, you could persuade him to try it.

Therefore, I ask him to be a decoy in the seventh playoff game on the road, and he agrees. Alright? That player has a professional mindset befitting a big-time player.”

In Game 7 of the 1974 Finals, Heinsohn’s Celtics, who had previously defended Kareem Abdul-Jabbar man-to-man, decided to double- and triple-team the big man. Havlicek also made a cameo on.

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. I believe it is functioning pretty nicely. 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 played on Sunday after practicing and having a drill session on Saturday after our Friday loss. 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. However, I realized that we might have a solid start as they would be completely perplexed by what we were doing. 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 picked 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 rookie 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 very strong 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. I had to enliven him a little since he had Midwest ideals.”

Heinsohn made fun of the fact that he had introduced Havlicek to Lancers wine, but Havlicek was more interested in basketball and trying to be the best player on the court, which made Auerbach like him.

“Red would never yell at a player in the first year if they were to play in a lineup. Heinsohn stated, “Just go out and do it; he’d hardly talk to you.” “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, really.

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 walking to the floor. “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, that was Red’s method. And Havlicek was so concentrated on his work that no one ever yelled at him, John. He was so concentrated 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. Heinsohn stated, “They never saw anything like it.” 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 almost the man of all the major plays.