John Havlicek

John Havlicek is perhaps the NBA's most underrated superstar. While I would not go so far as to compare him to Michael Jordan - I did compare him to Kobe Bryant. 

John Havlicek

Celtics legend John Havlicek has passed away at age 79 after a battle with Parkinson's.

I say Celtics legend but I easily could have said NBA legend as he was one of the top 20 players in league history (I would put him about equal to Kobe Bryant). I also could have said Ohio State legend as Hondo was perhaps the greatest athlete that school ever produced (he was drafted both by the Celtics and by the Cleveland Browns as a DB).

Havlicek won 8 NBA Championships (he was 8-0 in the Finals) and an NBA Finals MVP. He made 13 straight All-Star games, was All-NBA First Team four times and second team seven times. Havlicek could easily have played in today's NBA - how many players from the 60's and 70's could you say that about?

He was one of those rare athletes who played his entire career for one team and of whom you never heard a single negative thing said about. Think about it - have you ever heard a single bad thing about John Havlicek? He hustled and worked harder than any player (maybe ever) and was always a gentleman.

The Boston Celtics and the Havlicek family issued a statement on his passing.

Personally this is how I prefer to remember John Havlicek - chilling shirtless in Mexico with Dr. J (the two most popular and respected players from the 1970's).

John Havlicek "He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again."

Dwyane Wade and John Havlicek

So yesterday was John Havlicek's 70th birthday and today will be the final game in future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade's career. This (in my mind at least) begs the question of who was the better player.

The similarities between the two players is pretty pronounced. Start with the size - Wade 6'4" and 220 pounds vs Havlicek's 6'5" and 203 pounds. In Havlicek's final season he averaged 16.1 points plus 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Not including tonight's finale Wade this season has averaged 14.7 points along with 4.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds. Pretty close for two guys in their age 37 seasons.

For their careers Havlicek averaged 20.8 points per game to Wade's 22 per game; 6.3 rebounds to Wade's 4.7; and 4.8 assists per game to Wade's 5.4. Pretty close especially when you consider that Wade was playing point or shooting guard while Hondo was a shooting guard or small forward. You should also consider that the three point shot didn't exist in Havlicek's day. If it did then Hondo probably would have averaged more than Wade's 22 points per game since Havlicek was the better shooter as evidenced by his better free-throw percentage (81.5% vs 76.5%). 

Havlicek was a 13-time NBA All-Star just like Wade. While it is a big deal that Wade won 3 NBA Championships with the Heat - let's not forget that Havlicek owns 8 Championship rings from his career with the Celtics.

The whole point of this isn't to take anything away from Wade especially on the day of his final game. It just saddens me that Havlicek seems completely forgotten and the two were almost identical. It would piss me off though to see Wade listed above Havlicek on any of those greatest players of the NBA lists.

Kobe Bryant and John Havlicek

[With Kobe Bryant playing his final game last night - I wanted to update and repost something about Kobe and John Havlicek I wrote last December.]

So a 37-year old NBA legend announces his intention to retire at the end of the season and it sets off a big farewell tour. All the NBA cities who will be seeing him play for the last time make a big production of it. You might think I am speaking of Kobe Bryant but actually I was referring to Celtics legend John Havlicek's 1977-78 season.

The similarities between the two players is pretty pronounced. Start with the size - Bryant 6'6" and 212 pounds vs Havlicek's 6'5" and 203 pounds. Kobe went into the NBA right from high school so has the benefit of 4 more NBA seasons. Havlicek meanwhile went to college and is also a legend at Ohio State. In Havlicek's final season he averaged 16.1 points plus 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Kobe averaged 17.6 points along with 2.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds [Stats updated].

If you take away the points from Kobe's first 4 seasons and factor in that the 3-pointer wasn't around in Havlicek's day - the Black Mamba would still be the better scorer but only by the slightest of margins (27,479 points to 26,395). The rebounds favor Havlicek  (8,007 to 5,993) while Hondo finished with a slight advantage in assists averaging 4.8 career per game to Kobe's 4.7 (Kobe was leading in comparison going into the season but his 2.8 APG this season dipped him lower).  These two guys are statistically almost mirror images. {Stats updated]

Havlicek was a 13-time NBA All-Star while Kobe went to 18-All-Star games. It is a big deal that Kobe also won 5 NBA Championships with the Lakers but let's not forget that Havlicek owns 8 Championship rings from his career with the Celtics.

The whole point of this isn't to take anything away from Kobe but just that it saddens me that Havlicek seems completely forgotten and the two were almost identical. Even as a Celtics fan I'll admit that Kobe was the better player but the difference wasn't as great as some would have you believe.

A Legend Retires

So a 37-year old NBA legend announces his intention to retire at the end of the season and it sets off a big farewell tour. All the NBA cities who will be seeing him play for the last time make a big production of it. You might think I am speaking of Kobe Bryant but actually I was referring to Celtics legend John Havlicek's 1977-78 season.

The similarities between the two players is pretty pronounced. Start with the size - Bryant 6'6" and 212 pounds vs Havlicek's 6'5" and 203 pounds. Kobe went into the NBA right from high school so has the benefit of 4 more NBA seasons. Havlicek meanwhile went to college and is also a legend at Ohio State. In Havlicek's final season he averaged 16.1 points plus 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Kobe is averaging 15.5 points along with 3.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

If you take away the points from Kobe's first 4 seasons and factor in that the 3-pointer wasn't around in Havlicek's day - the Black Mamba would still be the better scorer but only by the slightest of margins (26,930 points and counting to 26,395). The rebounds favor Havlicek  (8,007 to 6,853 and counting) while Kobe has the slight advantage in assists averaging 5.3 career per game to Hondo's 4.8 (and Kobe was the guy who supposedly didn't pass the ball). These two guys are statistically almost mirror images.

Havlicek was a 13-time NBA All-Star while Kobe went to 17-All-Star games (and counting). It is a big deal that Kobe also won 5 NBA Championships with the Lakers but let's not forget that Havlicek owns 8 Championship rings from his career with the Celtics.

The whole point of this isn't to take anything away from Kobe but just that it saddens me that Havlicek seems completely forgotten and the two were almost identical. Even as a Celtics fan I'll admit that Kobe was the better player but the difference wasn't as great as some would have you believe.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Red Sox post-season magic number now stands at 9... If they ever made a live-action Sponge Bob movie - Ben Kingsley would be my choice to play Squidward... Dr. J and John Havlicek, shirtless and wearing sombreros... Just saying but the big problem for the Jets has been turnovers. Tim Tebow never turned over the ball... If I were President - I would make Bill Belichick my Press Secretary. Those White House briefings would be epic!.... By the same token - Bill Belichick should get Hodor to fill in for him at Patriots press conferences. Same amount of information but more entertaining... Is Carlos Beltran a Hall of Famer? How did Bernie Williams do on the HoF ballot? Oh yeah - that's right...

Red Sox Magic Number - 17

With Josh Beckett out-dueling Roy Halladay last night - the Red Sox new magic number is 17. The win was Beckett's 17th of the season - so his 17th win made the magic number 17. Serendipity.

In Boston the number 17 means John Havlicek who remains one of the most under-rated athletes in history. Havlicek could score, pass, rebound and defend. Most importantly he could run the guts out of any defender who tried to keep up with him.

Today for the Red Sox - the number 17 is worn by Manny Delcarmen. At the trade deadline the White Sox were supposedly asking for Delcarmen and prospect pitcher Craig Hansen in exchange for slugger Jermaine Dye. With the emergence of fan favorite Jacoby Ellsbury - you don't hear anyone whining about how the Red Sox should have made the deal for Dye.