Tommy Heinsohn is an institution of the Boston Celtics. Today, the former forward is known primarily as the Celtics’ TV commentator, but in the early years of the NBA, Heinsohn collected titles after titles with Bill Russell and also led the Celtics into the promised land as a coach. Today, the legend of Celtics is 84 years old.
Anyone who has watched a game of the Celtics with the League Pass will surely know the Celtics broadcast with the two older men named Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn. There are probably only a few duos as biased as the two gentlemen with the white hair.
Opinions vary accordingly. For Celtics fans, the duo enjoys cult status, while fans of the opponent are annoyed by the one-sidedness of the transmission. Gorman and Heinsohn don’t make a fuss about it either: they are real Homers.
No matter what opinion you have, at least it is quite remarkable that this combo has accompanied the Celtics for almost 40 years now, record in the league. Heinsohn in particular has become a real cult figure with his constant criticism of the referees. You don’t have to like it, but you can smile a little about the emotion and passion, especially if the refs are probably not sympathetic to Celtics.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster in Boston distributes the Tommy Award after every game. This is always given to the player who has collected enough Tommy Points during the game, which are available for large stakes and Hustle. Daniel Theis has also received an award, even though he himself did not know anything about this tradition before.
But Heinsohn’s story goes back much further. After his childhood in New Jersey, the later Celtics legend went to the University of Holy Cross in Massachusetts and made a name for himself in the Celtics and Coach Red Auerbach precinct. In 1956 there was still the Territorial Pick, meaning that NBA teams had access to players from nearby universities and made use of this right at Heinsohn.
This draft was to represent the beginning of the Celtics dynasty, since in the same year Bill Russell could also be piloted to Beantown. While Auerbach had a good feeling about Russell right from the start, he was a bit sceptical about the Local Hero. Heinsohn was already looking for alternatives and flew to Chicago to play as an amateur in the National Industrial League. It was Bob Cousy who persuaded Heinsohn to seek his fortune in the NBA.
He shouldn’t regret it. While Russell missed the start of the season because of the Olympic participation with Team USA in Australia, Heinsohn fought his way up on Power Forward. Despite a height of 2.01 meters, Heinsohn was incredibly agile, but at the same time strong enough to keep up with the Bigs of the time. In addition, there was a butter-soft jumper.
Heinsohn’s trademark, however, was his hook throw, which you actually no longer see in today’s NBA. “The hook throw is a great throw because you had your body between the ball and the opponent,” Tommy explained his love of the technique. “The opponent always thought when I was at the baseline that I would never take a throw and was a little inattentive. So I could always place the hook throw.”
Right in his first season, Heinsohn thus became an important building block in Auerbach’s system and played a major role in the legendary coach being able to puff his big winner cigars in the finals for the first time. In Game 7 of the finals against the St. Louis Hawks, Heinsohn scored 37 points, allowing Boston to celebrate their first championship. The boy from New Jersey was also awarded an average of 16 points and 9 rebounds as Rookie of the Year – ahead of Russell.
Seven more titles in eight years were to follow, in which Heinsohn had always played his part. But unlike Russell or Cousy, he was never indisputable. The media in Boston mostly criticized the choice of the forward’s litter and gave it the nickname Tommy Gun. But this was no problem for his team-mates and Auerbach. “We had a clear division of roles. Russell collected the rebounds, started the fast break. Cousy was the playmaker and Heinsohn was our shooter,” Auerbach always defended his protégé.
At least he did in the media. Internally, Heinsohn was regarded as the whipping boy of Auerbach, as he was better at dealing with criticism than the other players. “Red knew that other stars were a little fragile,” recalled Heinsohn later. “So when he wanted to wake us up, he’d always criticize me because he knew I could take it.”
In any case, Heinsohn was more of a bon vivant who, unlike Russell, structured his life not only around basketball, which later also affected his constitution. According to Auerbach, Heinsohn would own the “oldest body of a 27-year-old in sports history”. It was therefore hardly surprising that Heinsohn ended his career in 1965 at the age of 30 after his eighth title and six All-Star nominations.
His production had declined noticeably, once a 20/10 machine Heinsohn only had 13.6 points and 6 rebounds in his last season. At the same time, Auerbach bid farewell to the GM position and offered Heinsohn the job as coach. However, out of fear of the difficult Russell, he turned down the center itself as the player coach.
Meanwhile, Heinsohn switched to television and became a broadcaster for the Celtics before Auerbach knocked again three years later after Russell resigned. This time the former number 15 took the job, even though the Celtics team had lost some of its glamour without their franchise centre.
Heinsohn completely restructured the team and built up a new team around John Havlicek and one year later Center Dave Cowens, which reminded of the first Celtics teams of Auerbach with Cousy with their fast game and countless fast breaks. In no time the Celtics were again a house number and developed in a short time again to a Contender.
Heinsohn let play a very elaborate defense, which always exerted the highest pressure on the opponent. He himself described this strategy as a “guerrilla war” and led the Celtics to two further championships in 1974 and 1976.
Heinsohn (who would have thought it?) had a special relationship with the referees. The coach was known for his sometimes fierce exchanges with officials and often stormed the court to passionately discuss the decisions. After all, Heinsohn could also laugh about this circumstance, as this old beer advertisement proves in the best way.
In 1978 Heinsohn retired after a weak start to the season, but Tom Sander’s successor could no longer turn the corner. There were only 32 victories, but in retrospect it was a stroke of luck, as in the following draft Boston picked a white Indiana boy named Larry Bird at number six.
Heinsohn, on the other hand, returned to television, where he still forms a congenial duo with Mike Gorham. He continues his feuds with the referees to this day, also as a broadcaster. “People have criticized me over the years for my handling of the Refs, thinking that I would use it as an excuse if the Celtics lost. That’s not right. I think the game just needs the right balance.”
As Mr Gorman reported, Heinsohn followed a ref into the tunnel in order to give him an opinion. Some things never change.
This also applies to his relationship with the Celtics, which has now lasted for over 60 years. The 84-year-old is the only person who has been involved in all 17 Championships in any way. So it’s no surprise that Heinsohn was elected to the Hall of Fame both as a player and as a coach. Only John Wooden, Bill Sharman and Lenny Wilkens also managed this feat.
The classic car doesn’t even think about quitting, even if it only accompanies the Celtics’ home games in the meantime. “I love the way young people develop as players and personalities,” says the legend, explaining why he still hasn’t gone into well-earned retirement.
Nevertheless, basketball is not the only thing that plays a role in Heinsohn’s life. The eight-time champion of art has dedicated his free time. It’s hard to believe, but Heinsohn is indeed a gifted painter whose paintings have also been exhibited.
Otherwise, he simply enjoys coming to the arena every matchday and bringing his emotions to the spectators on the screens. The mid-eighties don’t need notes or preparation. He wants to enjoy the game, watch his Celtics.
What’s he gonna write? For 62 years now, green blood has been flowing through his veins. There’s probably nothing Heinsohn hasn’t seen yet. Cousy and Auerbach were the pioneers, Russell the mastermaker and Bird the icon. Heinsohn was perhaps not so dominant in the field, but he was the constant and thus developed into the institution of the most historic franchise of the NBA.