Fansided

Over and Back: John Havlicek’s greatest games

ByRich Kraetsch|
BOSTON - 1980: John Havlicek #17 of the Boston Celtics poses for a portrait in 1980 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1980 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON - 1980: John Havlicek #17 of the Boston Celtics poses for a portrait in 1980 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1980 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast Jason and Rich celebrate the life and career of the late, great John Havlicek.

The show begins with a look at Havlicek’s innovative and inspiring play-style, his role as the Sixth Man on dominant Boston Celtics teams and his emergence as Boston’s top scoring option.

Next, we look at the many accolades of Havlicek’s career including being named to 13 All-Star teams, eight times an NBA champion, 11-time All-NBA (including four times as All-NBA First Team), eight-time All-Defense and many more.

Additional topics include where the “Hondo” nickname originated from, Havlicek being drafted by the NFL’s Cleveland Browns as well as his spot among the all-time leaders in points, games played and more.

Then we get into the primary topic of the show and look at Havlicek’s greatest individual games including a 40-point performance against the Royals in 1964, his legendary and iconic steal in Game 7 of the Eastern Division Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, another 40-point game in a big spot this time Game 6 of the 1968 NBA Finals against Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and the Los Angeles Lakers and a huge 38-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist triple-double against the expansion Portland Trail Blazers. We also re-live Havlicek’s 54-point game against the Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semis in 1973, an all-time great game and performance from Havlicek in Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and finally, Hondo’s final game in the NBA on April 9, 1978 (also the last game of the Buffalo Braves).

Last but not least, we take listener questions about a variety of Havlicek-related topics including questions on how different his career would’ve been not coming off the bench, whether he ever seriously considered jumping to the ABA, his ranking as an all-time Boston Celtics player and more!

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