Boston Celtics: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history
By Frank Urbina
8. Jo Jo White (PG) — No. 9 pick in 1969 NBA Draft
Career stats (with the Celtics): 670 GP, 18.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.4 STL, 0.2 BLK, 2.5 TOV, 44.3 FG%, 83.1 FT%
A two-time NBA champ and seven-time All-Star, Jo Jo White comes in at No. 8.
The electric point guard was never the best player on his own team (that honor is bestowed upon another guy coming up on our countdown), but he was still a vital member of multiple elite Celtics teams of yesteryear.
Further aiding his case as a Celtics all-timer is the fact that White had a tendency to save his best play for the postseason. Not only are his playoff averages better than his regular season numbers, but he even owns one impressive bit of hardware: The 1976 NBA Finals MVP trophy.
In that year’s championship bout, a six-game battle against the Phoenix Suns, the Hall of Fame point guard averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. What’s more, in the all-important Game 5, with the series deadlocked at two games apiece, White had the performance of a lifetime.
The incomparable floor general finished the contest with 33 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and sank the game-sealing free throw to boot. Oh, also, he played 60 minutes that night. No, seriously. (Game 5 of the 1976 Finals went to triple-overtime and is still considered one of the greatest Finals showdowns ever.)
Without White, the Celtics probably drop Game 5 at home, and perhaps the series as well. It’s fair to say adding a title to Boston’s unfathomable collection of 17 is what earned White his spot in our pecking order.