One Final Game: John Havlicek
Date: April 9th, 1978
Nowadays it’s uncommon for a star player to be content sitting behind other superstars biding his time to take the mantle. Something similar happened with the San Antonio Spurs, but only briefly before Kawhi Leonard forced his way out. Throughout NBA history players like Kevin McHale fit the bill. Two decades before McHale, it was another Boston Celtics player who went from role player to star.
John Havlicek started his career during the peak of the Bill Russell Celtics, a team that won 11 titles in 13 seasons. He was there for the last six, slowly increasing his minutes and his scoring output as the aging veterans on the team began to pass the baton. Then the team was his, and he led them back to the NBA Finals and to another pair of championships during the 1970s.
Finally, the last season of Havlicek’s career saw him take a major step back in efficiency as he tried to compensate for his aging body. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t effective, as he averaged 18.3 points per game and 6.9 assists. That included a number of strong games from Hondo before he called it quits.
His final game came at home against the Buffalo Braves, a game that the Celtics won going away, not a given that final season for a Boston team that finished with 50 losses. Havlicek was not afraid to shoot in his final game, scoring 29 points and dishing nine assists. He went out with the ball in his hands, the last showing for a player with eight championship rings in his jewelry case.