Tom Heinsohn
Teams
Boston Celtics - 1956-65
Playoffs
Appearances - 9 (1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965)
Conference Finals - 9 (1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965)
NBA Finals - 9 (1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965)
Championships - 8 (1957,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965)
Awards and Honors
Rookie of the Year - 1957
All-NBA Second Team - 4 (1961,1962,1963,1964)
Hall of Fame - 1986
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
none
League Leads
Free Throw Percentage (#4-1963,1964)
Tom Heinsohn was a star basketball player at Holy Cross University in Worcester, Massachusetts, averaging 27.4 points and 21.1 rebounds per game as a senior, leading the Boston Celtics to claim his as a territorial selection in the NBA Draft in 1956, which meant they had to give up their first-round pick in order to claim him before any other team had the chance.
Heinsohn joined another great rookie on the Celtics that season, a center by the name of Bill Russell, and the two were the best rookies in the league that year, with Heinsohn narrowly winning the Rookie of the Year award over his teammate after putting up 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds as a rookie. That pair helped Bob Cousy lead the Celtics to their first NBA Championship that year.
The following season was the only time in Heinsohn's career that wouldn't end with a championship. Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and the Saint Louis Hawks beat the Celtics 4-2 in the NBA Finals in 1958, but for the rest of his career, Heinsohn was a champion.
He was never the star of the team, always playing alongside bigger stars like Russell, Cousy, and Sam Jones, but he was always one of the team's top scorers and nearly always raised his averages in the playoffs. His best season came in 1962, when he averaged 22.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game on the Celtics' fourth straight title team.
Heinsohn ended up playing only 9 seasons before a foot injury forced him to retire, which is a shorter career than all but 2 players on this list. He holds the distinction of playing the most seasons of any player to never miss the NBA Finals, and has more championships as a player than anyone but Sam Jones and Bill Russell.
After his playing days ended, he stayed with the Celtics organization, eventually becoming the head coach in 1969 and keeping the job for 9 years. During that time he won the Coach of the Year award once and 2 more NBA titles, and he was later elected to the Hall of Fame as a coach, becoming one of only 4 men to make it as both a player and as a coach.
Heinsohn's career was pretty short by basketball standards, especially for a star player. His stats were very good, but not necessarily amazing. He averaged 18.6 points and 8.8 rebounds for his career, both respectable numbers, but he does not appear on any all-time statistical leaderboard, and the only statistical category in which he ever got close to the league lead was free throw percentage.
Even though the numbers alone don't make him look like an all-time great, he was a big part of 4 championships with the Celtics and a solid role player for 2 more, with 2 other titles at the end of his career where his skills were diminishing. As far as winners go, Heinsohn is one of the most prolific, and deserves to be honored as one of the greatest players of all time.
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