John Havlicek biography
John Havlicek, byname Hondo, (born April 8, 1940, Martins Ferry, Ohio, U.S.—died April 25, 2019, Jupiter, Florida), American collegiate {and professional} basketball participant who got here to be considered the very best “sixth man” (bench participant) within the historical past of the National Basketball Association (NBA) whereas a member of the Boston Celtics. He was the primary participant to compile 16 consecutive 1,000-point seasons (1963–78).
At the Ohio State University Havlicek teamed with Jerry Lucas and Bob Knight and received the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 1960. After commencement he was drafted by each the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League and the Celtics. After getting reduce by the Browns, he joined the Celtics in 1962.
At 6 ft 5 inches (1.96 metres), Havlicek performed each ahead and guard on the Celtics groups that received eight NBA championships (1963–66, 1968–69, 1974, 1976). Widely considered one of the crucial full gamers within the historical past of the NBA, he was famous for his boundless vitality at each ends of the courtroom and for his clutch scoring in essential video games. Havlicek was on the centre of one of the crucial well-known performs in NBA historical past when—within the closing seconds of recreation seven of the 1965 Eastern Division finals—he deflected a Philadelphia 76ers inbounds go to seal a one-point Boston victory, a second that was immortalized by Celtics announcer Johnny Most’s impassioned name of “Havlicek steals it.…Havlicek stole the ball!”
Havlicek was named an All-Star in 13 consecutive seasons (1965–66 to 1977–78) and was a five-time All-Defensive first workforce choice. Despite coming off the bench for almost all of his profession, he held the NBA document for many video games performed (1,270) and was third on the league’s all-time points-scored listing upon his retirement in 1978. In 1996 he was named one of many high 50 gamers in NBA historical past, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.