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Tommy Heinsohn was a Boston Celtics legend in more ways than most people realize

Tommy Heinsohn was a Boston Celtics legend in more ways than most people realize

USA Today27-05-2025

Tommy Heinsohn was a Boston Celtics legend in more ways than most people realize
Tommy Heinsohn was a Boston Celtics legend in more ways than most people realize. The only member of the Celtics alumni community who had a role in the first 17 banners hung by the storied ball club, Heinsohn had an iconic career with three distinct phases. First, of course, was that of his time as a player for Boston, the Jersey City, New Jersey native winning a total of eight titles with the Celtics before he retired from the game in 1965.
Heinsohn would pick up the helm of the Celtics as head coach in 1969 after fellow Boston Hall of Famer and then-player-coach Bill Russell retired from both roles. He'd help guide Boston to two more titles in the mid-1970s, then transition into broadcasting after leaving the Cs as coach to start a four-decade partnership with beloved broadcaster Mike Gorman. Did we mention he was also an accomplished painter?
The folks behind the "NBC Sports Boston" YouTube channel put together a clip recounting Heinsohn's career ahead of his induction to the Hoops Hall for coaching back in 2015. Check it out below!

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