Top 100 NBA Players - #24

John Havlicek

(Kalb: #24, Simmons: #13, BBR: #44)

When the greatest players in Celtics history are named, most people would list Larry Bird, Bill Russell, and Bob Cousy, but John Havlicek was the player who kept the Celtics relevant after Russell's retirement and was a member of both championship teams between the Russell and Bird years.

When Havlicek came into the league, he joined the perennial champion Boston Celtics, and although he was only a role player for the first few years, he was a contributor to teams that continued to win titles throughout the 60's. He averaged 14.3 points as a rookie, which turned out to be the lowest he would average in his 16-year career. He ended his career with the third-most championships of any player, behind only Bill Russell and Sam Jones, and 33 years later he still hasn't been passed on that list.

Starting in 1966-67, Havlicek started a run of 9 straight seasons as one of the 10 best players in the NBA, hitting his peak in 1970-71 and 1971-72, when he averaged 28.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.5 assists over two seasons as he became the face of the Celtics. Unfortunately, his personal peak fell right in between the years of Celtic dominance, but he did have a huge part on several champs.

In his second, third, and fourth seasons, Havlicek worked his way up the ladder toward becoming the best player in Boston, passing Bob Cousy, then Tom Heinsohn, then Sam Jones, then finally Bill Russell as the best player on the title team. While it may seem almost sacrilegious to say that Havlicek ever surpassed Russell, he was actually the best player on Russell's final two title teams, in 1968 and 1969. Here are their stats from those two playoffs:

Havlicek (1968) - 25.9 pts, 8.6 reb, 7.5 ast, .452 FG%, .828 FT%

Russell (1968) - 14.4 pts, 22.8 reb, 5.2 ast, .409 FG%, .585 FT%

Havlicek (1969) - 25.4 pts, 9.9 reb, 5.6 ast, .445 FG%, .855 FT%

Russell (1969) - 10.8 pts, 20.5 reb, 5.4 ast, .423 FG%, .506 FT%

Russell was obviously the better rebounder, one of the two best of all time, but Havlicek was a much better scorer, shooter, and, most importantly, free throw shooter. 1968 happened to be the final season that the Finals MVP award didn't exist, and 1969 was the only season that a player from the losing team won the award, when Jerry West averaged over 40 points per game in the Finals and over 30 points per game over the entire playoffs. If you believe that the best player from the winning team should get the Finals MVP, then Havlicek should have won both of these. As it turns out, he did win one a few years later, when he led a completely new Boston team to the title. Look at his stats from those playoffs:

Havlicek (1974) - 27.1 pts, 6.4 reb, 6.0 ast, .484 FG%, .881 FT%

A quick glance will tell you that he hadn't dropped off at all, and had probably gained a step, despite the fact that he was 33 years old by this time. He had become a more efficient shooter and scorer while maintaining impressive averages in rebounds and assists. That was also the first season in which defensive stats were recorded, and he managed to average 1.3 steals per game during that playoff run as well.

Havlicek and Erving had similar career peaks in both level and length, with Havlicek reaching it a little bit later as he grew up behind other superstar players, unlike Erving, who was thrust into a starring role immediately. Erving single-handedly led his team to the Conference Finals and Finals numerous times, but there's no way his playoff accomplishments can stack up with Havlicek's, who was the best player on three champions and a top-4 player on three others. The fact that Hondo was consistently able to get one step further than Erving in the playoffs is what separates these two players among the all-time greats.