Buckeye Legend Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
John Havlicek recently was awarded the New England Lifetime
Achievement award. He was rewarded for a
stellar collegiate and professional career, as well as his work off of the
court. After reading this below, from a
sports career standpoint, it is somewhat of an understatement.
By Ryan Leonardo
One of the 50 Best
Ever
Bobby Knight played with Havlicek
from 1960-62, both part of the 1960 championship. Havlicek averaged 14.6 ppg, and shot over 50%
from the field. He also was part of the
only Ohio State basketball title. Havlicek went on to play all 16 seasons in
the NBA in Boston,
winning 8 championships. The NBA regards
him as one of the 50 best players ever.
He amassed over 26,000 points, 8,000 rebounds, and over 6,100
assists. That in-brief resume, including
a 1984 Hall of Fame induction, is enough to surpass almost every other player
in terms of credentials.
Three Championship
Games
Havlicek not only led the Buckeyes
to a 76-8 record while in school, he led them to the championship game three
times, winning one. He was such an
athlete, that in 1962, the Cleveland Browns drafted him in the first
round. Although he didn’t make it as a
Hall of Fame receiver, he excelled in everything else. Jerry West said “The guy is the ambassador of
our sport. John always gave his very best every night and had time for
everybody -- teammates, fans, and the press."
Top 10 of All Time
Havlicek scored 29 points in his
last game at Boston
Garden, in which Red Auerbach
said, "He epitomizes everything good. "If I had a son like John I'd be the
happiest man in the world." John Havlicek in this top 10 list of Buckeye Legends.
- Paul Brown
- Archie Griffin
- Wayne Woodrow Hayes
- John Havlicek
- Jesse Owens
- Bill Willis
- Lou Groza
- Rex Kern
- Howard Cassady
- Jerry Lucas
This is in no particular order, only because my opinion
could never place any of these greats, or many others that were left out, into a numerical list based on rank. They are all number one to me.