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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:10 pm 
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One of the greatest basketplayers of all-time. I loved watching him throughout my life. One of my favorites of all-time. He was the Larry Bird before there was a Larry Bird.

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Tributes pour in after John Havlicek’s death

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© Globe Staff/FileRed Auerbach and John Havlicek in April 1977.

The basketball world took the news of John Havlicek’s death hard. The Celtics legend died Thursday in Jupiter, Fla. He was 79.

Here is a sampling of reactions from around the NBA and beyond:

NBA commissioner Adam Silver

“John Havlicek was a wonderful friend who represented the best of the NBA. He described himself as a man of routine and discipline — a humble approach that produced extraordinary results, including eight NBA championships with the Boston Celtics, 13 All-Star selections and some of the most iconic moments in league history. A trusted teammate who prioritized winning, John’s passion and energy endeared him to basketball fans and made him a model for generations of NBA players. We send our deepest sympathies to John’s wife, Beth, his son, Chris, and his daughter, Jill, as well as the entire Celtics organization.”

Basketball Hall of Fame president and chief executive John L. Doleva

“The Basketball Hall of Fame family deeply mourns the loss and celebrates the life of John Havlicek. John was an incredible man, with a unique balance of modesty and competitive spirit. He was certainly a fan favorite in Boston and will be deeply missed in the basketball community.”

Bill Russell
✔ @RealBillRussell

It is getting difficult each time I hear about another contemporary that passes! What is harder is when we lose guys like John Havlicek, he was not just a teammate & a great guy, but he was family. That is how our @celtics teams were. #RIP Hondo @NBA #RIPJohnHavlicek @NBAonTNT

10:48 PM - Apr 25, 2019

Earvin Magic Johnson
✔ @MagicJohnson

I’m sad to hear about the passing of one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, John Havlicek. 13x All Star, 8x Champion, Finals MVP, and Hall Famer, John was a champion on the court and in the community.

11:21 PM - Apr 25, 2019

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
✔ @kaj33


I met John Havlicek at the same time & place that I met Red Auerbach & Bill Russell @ my high school gym in Autumn of 1961 - my freshman year. He was still playing when I entered the league & our friendship grew... #17 will always be class act! RIP @NBA
https://on.nba.com/2IIB3bm

10:46 PM - Apr 25, 2019 · Newport Beach, CA

Tommy Heinsohn

Heinsohn spoke Thursday to NBC Sports Boston.

“This guy was the ultimate professional player. He focused — even during the Vietnam War — it was basketball. He was 100 percent involved in everything that happened. He was a great captain. He accepted responsibility. . . . He was a Celtic all the way.”

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:28 pm 
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I haven't followed sports much in a few decades, but when I was a kid and in my teens, I was huge Knicks fan. As a Knicks fan, I hated Havlicek. And every other Celtic as well. HATED them. Why? Because they were so good and because no matter how good the Knicks may have gotten in those years, the Celtics always had their number.

He was one of the all time greats though. One of the best.


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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:41 pm 
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Larry wrote:
I haven't followed sports much in a few decades, but when I was a kid and in my teens, I was huge Knicks fan. As a Knicks fan, I hated Havlicek. And every other Celtic as well. HATED them. Why? Because they were so good and because no matter how good the Knicks may have gotten in those years, the Celtics always had their number.

He was one of the all time greats though. One of the best.


:thumbsup: (agree with all except hating the Celtics) :wink:

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:49 pm 
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Puppy Monkey Alan!

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RIP

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:56 pm 
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RIP.

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 4:53 pm 
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Basketball has always been my favorite sport. John Havlicek is definitely one of the all-time greats. My personal history with "Hondo" began in 1959 (I was 10 years old). I grew up in Toledo, Ohio and used to listen to the Ohio State games on my cheap, tinny transistor radio. That championship team featured Hondo and Jerry Lucas. Thanks for providing many great memories through the years, Hondo!!

RIP

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 6:55 pm 
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Location: Massapequa, NY
Larry wrote:
As a Knicks fan, I hated Havlicek. And every other Celtic as well. HATED them. Why? Because they were so good and because no matter how good the Knicks may have gotten in those years, the Celtics always had their number.

He was one of the all time greats though. One of the best.

Seconded.
He was as tough a competitor as I have ever seen, in any sport.
Rest In Peace.

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 Post subject: Boston Celtics John Havlicek - RIP
PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 11:19 pm 
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Boston Celtics general manager Red Auerbach, center, with Bill Russell, left, and John Havlicek, right, in 1968. (AP/AP)

John Havlicek, Hall of Fame spark plug of Celtics basketball dynasty, dies at 79

By Matt Schudel
April 27 at 7:14 PM

John Havlicek, who perfected the role of the “sixth man,” or the first player off the bench, during a 16-year Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics in which he was a catalyst in propelling the team to eight NBA championships, died April 25 in Jupiter, Fla. He was 79.

The Celtics announced his death. He reportedly had Parkinson’s disease.

Mr. Havlicek came to Boston in 1962, after a stellar college career at Ohio State, where he helped lead the Buckeyes to a national title in 1960 and two other appearances in the NCAA’s championship game.

He had a relentless, unselfish style of play, highlighted by constant movement and tenacious defense. He joined the Celtics at a time when the team, coached by Red Auerbach, was a seemingly unbeatable dynasty. From 1957 to 1969, the Celtics won 11 NBA championships.

The first time Auerbach saw Mr. Havlicek in a practice session with the Celtics, he was “flabbergasted at what Havlicek was showing us. Here he was, not having touched a basketball for months and he was far and away the best man on the court.”

When Mr. Havlicek was growing up in a small town in Ohio, his parents did not give him a bicycle. As a result, he ran everywhere, building up remarkable stamina and speed. It was a skill that proved invaluable on the basketball court, where he was utterly tireless and never seemed to break a sweat.

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John Havlicek (17) driving past the New York Knicks' Bill Bradley in 1972. (AP/AP)

“I knew from the first time I played this game,” Mr. Havlicek told Sports Illustrated in 1974, “that the toughest guy to score on was the guy who kept after me all the time, nose-to-nose, basket-to-basket. The opposite is also true. The toughest guy to defend against is the guy who keeps running. Who never lets up. Never lets you relax.”

He joined a Boston team that included such future Hall of Fame players as point guard Bob Cousy, center Bill Russell, forward Tom Heinsohn and guards Sam Jones and K.C. Jones. Even though he came off the bench, Mr. Havlicek played the third-most minutes of any player on the team, providing defensive intensity and a spark to the offense.

He became a key part of the Celtics’ signature fast-break offense, as Russell cleared the boards and fired outlet passes down the court. At 6-foot-5, Mr. Havlicek was seemingly too big to play the guard position and too small to be a forward, so he alternated between the two, practically creating a hybrid position of his own.

“No one in the league his size is even close to Havlicek in quickness,” Los Angeles coach Fred Schaus said in 1966.

Mr. Havlicek’s slashing style of play wasn’t always pretty, but it was ruthlessly effective. He was always in position to grab offensive rebounds and to make passes to open teammates. On defense, he was often called on to guard the opposing team’s top scorer.

“I prided myself on my ability to come off of the bench and change the tempo of the game, both offensively and defensively,” Mr. Havlicek told the Ohio State student newspaper in 2011. “I figured that nobody could name all of the players who started in the NBA at that time. But if I could become the best sixth man in the league, everyone would know who I was.”

During his second year in Boston, as the Celtics continued to dominate the league, Mr. Havlicek led the team in scoring, while still entering the game from the bench as the sixth man. The next year, the 1964-65 season, the Celtics were pushed to the brink in the Eastern Division playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Wilt Chamberlain.

With five seconds left in the seventh and deciding game, Boston clung to a one-point lead, 110-109, but Philadelphia had possession of the ball. The Sixers’ Hal Greer threw a long inbounds pass toward Chet Walker, which Mr. Havlicek tipped toward his teammate Sam Jones.

Radio announcer Johnny Most then made what is still the most famous broadcasting call in Celtics history: “Greer putting the ball in play. He gets it out deep and Havlicek steals it! Over to Sam Jones! Havlicek stole the ball! It’s all over! . . . It’s all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!”

Ecstatic Boston fans mobbed Mr. Havlicek, tearing off his jersey. The Celtics went on to cruise past the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

During Mr. Havlicek’s first four years in Boston, the Celtics won four titles. Auerbach stepped down as coach after the 1966 season and was replaced by Russell, who became the NBA’s first black coach while continuing to anchor the team at center.

As other players retired, Mr. Havlicek’s role grew, and he and Russell were the core of a Celtics team that won NBA championships in 1968 and 1969. Years later, Russell said of his longtime teammate, “He is the best all-around player I ever saw.”

John Joseph Havlicek was born April 8, 1940, in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He grew up in Lansing, Ohio, a small town near the West Virginia border, where his parents ran a grocery store.

A standout high school athlete in football, basketball and baseball, Mr. Havlicek was recruited by dozens of colleges but chose to attend Ohio State, from which he graduated in 1962. Buckeye football coach Woody Hayes said Mr. Havlicek was the best quarterback on campus, but he stuck to basketball and baseball in college.

Freshmen were not eligible for varsity play in those days, but as a sophomore Mr. Havlicek started for an Ohio State team under coach Fred Taylor that won the 1960 NCAA title over California, 75-55. (His teammates included Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, Larry Siegfried — who later played for the Celtics — and Bobby Knight, who became a Hall of Fame coach.)

Ohio State returned to the championship game in 1961 and 1962, only to lose both times to the University of Cincinnati. During Mr. Havlicek’s three years, Ohio State had a record of 78-6.

In the 1970s, the Celtics rebuilt around Mr. Havlicek, who led his team to NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. The 1976 championship series over the Phoenix Suns featured a triple-overtime victory by the Celtics in Game 5 that has been called the greatest game in NBA history. Despite an injured foot, Mr. Havlicek played 58 minutes out of a possible 63, scoring 22 points in the Celtics’ epic 128-126 victory.

In his final game, Mr. Havlicek scored 29 points; his No. 17 was soon retired by the Celtics. He averaged 20.8 points per game for his career, and he remains the team’s all-time leading scorer. He entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.

In retirement, Mr. Havlicek owned several Wendy’s fast-food franchises and was successful in other business ventures.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, the former Beth Evans; and two children.

In 1996, the NBA named Mr. Havlicek one of the 50 greatest players in the league’s history

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