Havlicek, John (1940-2019), was one of the greatest all-around players in basketball history. Havlicek played for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During that time, he played on eight championship teams. He set a team scoring record for the Celtics with 26,395 points. Havlicek was named to the NBA first or second All-Defensive team eight times.
Havlicek played both forward and guard. Early in his professional career, he was considered the NBA’s top “sixth man”—that is, the best reserve player. He later became a starter for the Celtics. He had a career scoring average of 20.8 points a game during the regular season and a play-off average of 22 points a game.
Havlicek was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, on April 8, 1940. He played for Ohio State University from 1959 to 1962 and was a star on the 1959-1960 team that won the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. The Celtics drafted Havlicek on the first round in 1962. He was also drafted by the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League as a wide receiver in the seventh round of the 1962 draft, but he never played professional football.
Havlicek retired after the 1977-1978 season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. Havlicek died on April 25, 2019.
