Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 28 – John Havlicek

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1962 – 1978

Achievements: Eight-time champion; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (13x); All-Defense (8 times)

John Havlicek is something of a basketball version of Aaron Rodgers, a player who was stuck behind an all-timer before being handed the reigns and winning at the highest level. Drafted in 1962 he was a role player at first on a loaded Celtics team, but he forced his way into the lineup and soon was unstoppable as a key player on eight title teams, two of them without the safety net of his elite Russell-era teammates.

The football comps go deeper, as Havlicek was a three-sport athlete at Ohio State that was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and almost made the team. When he didn’t he joined the Celtics and went on to become one of the best players of his generation.

As Bill Russell and the other stars of that dynasty aged, he took the mantle and became one of the leading scorers for the last few title teams (maybe he is sort of like Kawhi, then?). Then a few years later he and Dave Cowens brought another two titles to Beantown. He was a dynamite scorer with a huge motor and a big smile and he had a major impact on basketball in the ’60s and ’70s.