Tag: Tommy Heinsohn

What Tommy Heinsohn thought about Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird before he joined the NBA

Believe it or not, many people questioned whether Bird was worth his historically large rookie deal.

The same loophole that allowed Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach to draft Celtics legend Larry Bird out of college before he had graduated (he had transferred from Indiana to Indiana State after his freshman year) allowed Bird to turn the tables on Auerbach and demand what was then the biggest salary ever given to a rookie in NBA history.

Now the deal, a five-year, $3.25 million contract, seems like a bargain of bargains — particularly considering he basically walked into the league playing at an All-Star level. But at the time, there was considerable doubt whether Auerbach had committed a critical mistake by letting the future Hall of Famer force his hand.

At the time, Celtics Hall of Fame player and coach Tommy Heinsohn was writing a column on the team he rose to fame with, and spoke on a television show about what he believed about Bird’s future in the league and the value of the signing.

Watch the video embedded above to hear what Heinsohn said about one of the greatest to play the game before he ever graced an NBA hardwood (you may want to turn on the closed captioning and crank the volume — father time has not been kind to the audio).

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” “Celtics Lab,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Looking back at Tommy Heinsohn’s historic 1957 NBA Finals performance with the Boston Celtics

Tommy Heinsohn was so much more than just a Celtics broadcasting icon.

While the bulk of contemporary fans of the Boston Celtics are very familiar with franchise icon Tommy Heinsohn, for most of them he is a broadcasting legend, his time as a player existing in some remote corner of awareness for many, if at all.

But Heinsohn was a force of nature in his playing days. He was among the league’s best forwards and something of a template for future frontcourt players. He was a critical part in winning eight NBA titles for the Celtics and in no small way crucial to securing the first of Boston’s league-tying 17 banners as a rookie, no less.

And to discuss exactly that on a video clip taken from his eponymous podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons discusses Heinsohn’s legendary 1957 finals Game 7 performance.

Check it out for yourself to learn more about how the originator of the Tommy Point helped get the Celtics on the board as a champion franchise with his contribution of a double-overtime win over the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Bob Ryan says that Tommy Heinsohn would be proud of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday

And he said as much on his podcast.

The Stock Exchange — Richard White’s nickname for the backcourt team comprised of his son Derrick and veteran guard Jrue Holiday on the Boston Celtics — has been honored by the NBA with both players making the league’s 2024 Kia All-Defensive Second Team. 

But there is a bigger honor that Celtics beat writer emeritus Bob Ryan believes Holiday and White might be feted with by beloved former Boston broadcaster (and coach and player) Tommy Heinsohn. Ryan believes that the duo would make Tommy proud, and he said as much on his eponymous CLNS Media “Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay!” podcast.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what he had to say about such a scenario, 

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=590969556]

Every Boston Celtics All-Star for each season the game was played

Every single Boston Celtics All-Star in franchise history.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set to kick off in Indianapolis, Indiana. A pair of Boston Celtics will be part of the action for the third year in a row as Jayson Tatum plays as a starter and Jaylen Brown a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Tatum and Brown join a long list of Celtics stars who have participated in the event, now entering its 73rd year of existence, which actually got its start in the old Boston Garden. Initially created to improve the image of professional basketball after a point-shaving scandal in NCAA ball besmirched the sport in the eyes of the public, the event has taken on a life of its own as one of the league’s most anticipated events.

Let’s take a look at all the Celtics who have taken part.

Every Boston Celtics head coach of an All-Star game in NBA history

A total of seven Celtics coaches have earned the right to coach the All-Star game by owning the East’s best record that season.

About a year ago, the Boston Celtics were poised to make history by sending the first interim coach to helm the NBA’s 2023 All-Star Game, which is why the Celtics will not be having Mazzulla coaching the 2024 All-Star Game.

The rules prohibit repeat performances in that role, sending the nod to a Boston coaching alumnus in Doc Rivers (now with the Milwaukee Bucks) instead, who coached the game himself as Celtics head coach in 2008. With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the Boston alumni who have done the same over the course of the event’s long history. A total of seven Celtics coaches have earned the right to coach the All-Star game by owning the East’s best record that season.

Let’s take a look at who they were and the seasons that it happened in.

On this day: Celtics fire Tommy Heinsohn as coach, hire Tom Sanders

On this day in 1978, the Boston Celtics fired iconic head coach Tommy Heinsohn and hired Celtic champ Tom Sanders to replace him in that role.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise fired then-head coach and former champion forward Tommy Heinsohn.

Heinsohn had begun coaching the team after a stint as a broadcaster calling games for local television station WKBG, which he had been doing for 3 seasons after retiring as one of the most decorated players in all of NBA history in 1965, winning 8 titles and a host of other honors. The Holy Cross product was similarly successful as a head coach for the Celtics early on, winning the league’s Coach of the Year honors in 1973 and a pair of titles in 1974 and 1976.

He would also serve as the head coach of the East in All-Star games between 1972 and 1974, and again in 1976.

On this day: Boston legend Tommy Heinsohn scores 45 on Christmas Day

It is the most scored by a Celtics player on that day, and Tommy’s career-high.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics power forward Tommy Heinsohn scored 45 points in the Celtics’ 127-122 win over the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, the Philadelphia 76ers) on the road on Christmas Day 1961.

It remains the record for points scored on any game played on Christmas by a Celtic player (point guards Kyrie Irving and Bob Cousy hold the next two highest scores on that day with 40 and 35 points, respectively). The yuletide offensive outburst was also the most points scored by the iconic power forward in any game of his storied career.

The Holy Cross alumnus went on to win his fifth title with the team later that season, but he played a game for the ages that holiday tilt first.

On this day: Tommy Heinsohn, Ed Macauley, Marvin Kratter pass; Pruitt, Lucas debut

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn passed away.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn passed away after a long illness. Heinsohn, who was part of every one of Boston’s NBA-record 17 titles in one form or another, had been broadcasting for much of the time after leaving the team as a coach in the late 1970s and had been calling games with partner Mike Gorman right up until a few months before his passing.

As a player, Heinsohn won 8 banners with the team in his career stretching from 1956 to 1965, 6 All-Star bids, and 4 All-NBA team honors among many others. As a coach, the Holy Cross product would win two more titles in 1974 and 1976, and take home Coach of the Year honors in 1973.

One of only five people ever inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, Tommy may yet make it in as a broadcaster as well, a feat yet unmatched in league history. Rest in Peace, Tommy — you are missed.

(AP Photo/J. Walter Green)

On this day: Lewis, Lohaus, Acres, Wenstrom, Jackson debut; Green signed; Turner cut; Kuberski born

On this day, former Celtics Reggie Lewis, Brad Lohaus, Mark Acres, and Matt Wenstrom made their debuts for Boston, and Steve Kuberski was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, forward Reggie Lewis debuted for the team in a 125-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in 1987. Born on the 21st of this month in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis would play collegiately for Boston-area Northeastern University under New England coaching legend Jim Calhoun (better known for his time at UConn) before being drafted by Boston with the 22nd overall pick of the 1987 NBA draft.

He would later collapse and die of heart-related medical issues he’d been recently diagnosed with many years later but would play with Boston for six seasons, starting with this win over the Bucks.

The Maryland native would log 4 points in 5 minutes of game time in his debut.

On this day: former Boston player, coach, GM Carr waived; Heinsohn, Sharman jerseys retired

On this day in Celtics history, ML Carr was waived, and Tommy Heinsohn and Bill Sharman had their jerseys retired.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Celtics small forward and later head coach and general manager Michael Leon Carr (more often known as “M.L.”) was waived by the team he would one day head — but not on that day in 1974.

Carr, a native of Wallace, North Carolina, would play his college ball with the Guilford College Quakers, a Division III program in Greensboro, North Carolina. Despite the Division III status of his school, Carr managed to get selected 76th overall (there were several more rounds to the NBA draft in that era) by the then-Kansas City/Omaha Kings (now, Sacramento) in the 1973 NBA draft.

But, Carr fared better in the rival American Basketball Association (ABA) draft of that same year.