Jo Jo White
(Simmons: #95, BBR: #117)
Jo Jo White was one of the players who bridged the gap for the Celtics from the Bill Russell dynasty to the years of Larry Bird, and although he's not as famous as those who came before and after him, he had some pretty good days starring in Boston.
Jo Jo was not the best player on the Celtics during his time there, but playing alongside big men John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, he was able to keep the Celtics in contention through a big chunk of the 70's. From 1971 to 1977, he was one of the most consistent player in the league, and an All-Star in each of those seasons. His overall stats from that period are listed below.
White - 19.6 pts, 4.5 reb, 5.6 ast, 1.4 stl
It's also notable that during those six seasons White missed a total of 3 games, and played a total of 80 playoff games during those postseasons, which means he crammed 7 years worth of games into 6 years. Included in those 6 playoff runs were two championships, and White was one of Boston's top 3 players each time.
White had a major part in one of the most memorable Finals games of all time, the triple overtime thriller in 1976 against Phoenix. White played 60 minutes in that game and hit the technical free throw that gave Boston a 2-point lead with a second left in the second overtime, which prevented them from losing on Gar Heard's miracle shot. He then hit the two free throws that iced the game in the third overtime.
Jo Jo's career peak was nowhere near Bellamy's, but Bellamy's peak occurred early, and he was never able to duplicate that success. White reached his peak level in year 3 and stayed steady for 6 seasons before injuries knocked him off the top. With just the regular season stats, there's no way that White is put ahead of Bellamy, but when you include those 2 championships and his contributions to those teams, he's definitely worthy of passing Walt in the all-time rankings.
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