John Havlicek (official thread)

[calibuck]

Hondo was one of the great ones, and it appears that he's continued to carry that forward in the 'life after basketball' - good for him. Used to sit in drafty St. John's and watch Lucas, Mel Nowel, Larry Siegfried, John Havlicek, Joe Roberts tear it up. Class individuals, all.

It seems to me that OSU has the makings of the same kind of group. Oden seems to be well grounded, as does Conley. Cook can be the scorer that Siegfried was, and Lighty can perform as Hondo did. Guard the hottest man, and score a little. I hope so. Remember, in the 'ol days, freshmen couldn't play, so they won in 1960 as sophomores.

PS, I was in high school at Whetstone, not in Baker Hall......but did some time at the VC. It's great to see him honored. And, Hondo was part of the Celtic mystique, a large part, but Russell, Cousy, Sharman, and of course Red Auerbach ALL contributed...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

ACE Group Classic: Havlicek to Bobby: ?It?s time?

Former Ohio State teammate advised Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight

By ADAM FISHER (Contact)
11:35 p.m., Wednesday, February 13, 2008

NBA Hall of Famer John Havlicek was surprised last week when Texas Tech mens? basketball coach Bob Knight resigned.
Surprised, the former Boston Celtic said, but not shocked.
?I?ve been telling him for two years to retire,? Havlicek said. ?I could see the toll it was taking on him. He?s at a place where you really can?t recruit the type of players he would like to recruit to win a championship. He was getting tired.?
Havlicek and former teammate Sam Jones were at Quail West Golf & Country Club on Wednesday to compete in the ACE Group Classic Pro-Am, a precursor to the tournament that starts Friday. The duo won six NBA championships in the seven years they played together for one of the most dominant dynasties in sports history.
Havlicek knew Knight before the coach was known for chair-throwing and surly post-game interviews. Havlicek knew Knight well before he won NCAA titles at Indiana, even before he started coaching at Army.

Continued.....

[Bucky Katt]

Happy 68th Birthday, Hondo!

[ScriptOhio]

The pride of Martins Ferry Ohio. Happy Birthday!!!

[OSUsushichic]

Havlicek was honored at Fenway Park today as a part of the Opening Day ceremonies.

The pregame ceremony featured an array of athletes from the Bruins, Celtics, and Patriots, who carried the world championship rings that were presented to the 2007 Red Sox

Boston Bruins
John 'Johnny' Bucyk
Ken Hodge
Donald 'Don' Marcotte
John 'Johnny' McKenzie
Bobby Orr

Boston Celtics
Danny Ainge
M.L. Carr
John Havlicek
K.C. Jones
Bill Russell
Jo Jo White

New England Patriots
Tedy Bruschi
Kevin Faulk
Larry Izzo
Lonnie Paxton

Boston Red Sox
Brian Daubach
Curtis Leskanic
Dave McCarty

Pregame ceremonies recap - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog

[Buckskin86]

NBA great has a lot on his plate
May 19, 2008
Jim Naveau

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP - During John Havlicek's basketball career at Ohio State and throughout his NBA years he was known for always being on the move.

Apparently not much has changed in the 30 years since he played his last game.

"There's always something going on. In the last nine days I've been in Scotland, Florida and Lima. I travel a lot of ground at times," the 68-year-old Basketball Hall of Famer said as he sat at a table at the Shawnee Country Club on Monday.

Havlicek was in Lima for the Thomas J. Moening Classic, a golf outing to benefit the Lima Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Two hundred fifty-two golfers played in the outing and 24 tennis players also took part in a "Lobs for Life" competition on Monday.

The golf outing was named for Tom Moening, the former chief executive officer of Webb Insurance, who died late last year. He was a co-founder and officer of the Lima Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Havlicek combined a business trip to Lakeview Farms, a Delphos food company he owns a piece of, with the golf outing.

"This is one of the things that came up on the calendar and I knew Tom a little bit. It's something I wanted to do," he said.

Sports: NBA great has a lot on his plate | havlicek, game, one : LimaOhio.com

[OSUsushichic]

Celebrating the Celtics win last night:



Celtics celebrate Eastern Conference title - Boston.com

Former Celtics captain John Havlicek, who won eight rings with the Green, presented the conference championship trophy to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck in the visitors' locker room after last night's clincher. Havlicek reminded the new generation, "With your jersey it carries a lot of great tradition. Go Celtics. Beat LA."

[Buckskin86]

Hondo grew into legendary Havlicek
Celts great recognized
By Rich Thompson / The Tradition
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Ohio State guard Mel Nowell wasn?t very good with pronunciations, but he pegged a nickname that spawned a legend.

Nowell was a Buckeyes teammate of Celtics [team stats] Hall of Famer John Havlicek and legendary college coach Bobby Knight, both of whom were part of the seventh annual The Tradition festivities last night at TD Banknorth Garden.

Nowell had a difficult time saying Havlicek, but Nowell saw a likeness in Havlicek that resembled a swaggering Hollywood actor.

?Nowell just couldn?t pronounce my name properly when I was a freshman so he started calling me Hondo,? Havlicek said. ?I asked him why and he said I looked like John Wayne from the side and the movie Hondo was very popular at the time. It started there and it just sort of stuck with me. I sort of liked the name. It was fine.?

Knight, who presented Havlicek with The Tradition?s Lifetime Achievement Award, was quick to point out that nicknames don?t create legendary basketball players. Havlicek, Knight, Nowell and Jerry Lucas led Ohio State to the NCAA championship in 1960.

Knight knew Havlicek had the skills and competitive instincts that would guide him through two distinct Celtics dynasties and land him in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

?He created a legend because of the kind of player he was,? Knight said. ?I?m not a big John Wayne fan. I would have preferred if he (Nowell) called him Clark Gable, but it was his ability and his competitiveness. That was John Havlicek, not this guy Hondo. The first time I saw him play I knew he was going to be a really good player because he was a great athlete and he had a great mind on how to play. He was the best I ever saw at going from one level to another.?

Hondo grew into legendary Havlicek - BostonHerald.com

John Havlicek?s a star for many sports, eras
By Rich Thompson
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Former Celtics [team stats] guard/forward John Havlicek transitioned two Boston dynasties.

Havlicek extended the Bill Russell era to the end of the 1960s and created a second run of championships with Dave Cowens in the 70s.

For his contributions on the parquet and charitable endeavors in retirement, Havlicek will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the seventh Tradition ceremony tonight (5:30) at TD Banknorth Garden.

?He sort of had a foot in both eras,? said The Sports Museum curator Dick Johnson. ?You could make a pretty good argument that John was the best pure athlete to ever play for the Celtics and maybe the best

John Havlicek’s a star for many sports, eras - BostonHerald.com

[BB73]

Happy Birthday, Hondo.

[WoodyWorshiper]

These are the times that I wished I'd been the "perfect son" to my mother.

Well, I pretty much have been for 47 years, and I'm sure she'd tell you the same. In 2 weeks, my "mama" is going to her 50-year High School reunion. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but hopefully it will be. She graduated with John Mummey and his wife, and they are major organizers, so John will definately be there. The kicker is on a girl named "Beth Evans" who graduated in this class and happended to marry John Havlicek about forever ago. Hope to heck that they show up for this one.

I'm in the process of trying to get off of work that night to be my mom's "date" for the evening. I am one ugly M-F'er, but would be willing to post my ugliness on this site if somehow John and Hondo both show up and are willing to have their pics taken with me.

We'll see. One can ONLY hope!

Peace.