YouTube Gold: The Life And Legacy Of John Havlicek

A nice video about a great, great player.

If you’re a Celtic, you can be a phenomenal talent and almost be an afterthought. Think about it: when it comes to Boston, you think about Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Bob Cousy, Jayson Tatum and most of all Bill Russell.

It’s not to demean anyone, but that’s just the way it is. You can be a great player and still not draw huge amounts of attention. Take John Havlicek, for instance.

He was a key part of the early Celtics dynasty along with Russell. In fact, the famous “Havlicek stole the ball!” call by Johnny Most came after Russell famously threw the ball off a guide wire, turning it over to the 76ers before Hondo stole it back. It’s one of the most iconic calls (and plays) in NBA history.

Havlicek started as a sixth man in the Frank Ramsey tradition: he could sub in for a forward or guard and just make an impact.

As time went on, he became a bigger and bigger part of Boston’s success during the Russell era and after Russell retired in 1969, Havlicek was the bridge to the post-Russ world.

After dipping to 34-48 in 1969-70, Boston, led by Havlicek, began to win again and Boston won the championship in 1973-74 and again in 1975-76.

Havlicek was the common denominator and he after he retired in 1978 at the age of 38, he said he would have played a little longer if he’d have know that Bird was coming along.