There are players who are NBA greats, and then there are players who are franchise greats. Late Tommy Heinsohn was primarily a Boston Celtics hero and very deservingly a league legend. He gave every ounce of his blood and sweat to the city of Boston.

Ever since 1956, Tommy was a cornerstone of the Celtics organization. He joined as a player and played for nine seasons. Later, he rejoined as a coach in 1969 and led the same 9-year reign. After a temporary break, he came back as a broadcaster, and the rest is history. 

NBA Hall of Famer remembers the coaching style of Tommy Heinsohn

Sam Jones joined the Boston Celtics just a year after Tommy as a point/shooting guard and a small forward. The 6’4” phenom vividly remembered his time with the late legend when he said in an interview, “I always say that we were so successful because we love… our plays. And nobody can stop our plays. And I wonder why he didn’t keep on using the same plays that we… that made us so successful.

“But he wanted to make a change, he wanted to do it Tommy Heinsohn way. And the guy was good, he knew basketball. But sometimes I think he over-coached. But he developed a lot of players.” 

Sam or Mr. Clutch got this name because of his phenomenal clutch pays under pressure. He averaged 17.7 points in his 12 years of services to the Celtics. He left the Celtics the same year when Tommy signed as the new head coach. 

Whom did this Celtics phenom coach, and what all did he achieve?

The 10-time NBA Champion added, “He did well with Dave Cowens, who came out of Florida state. He did well with [indiscernible] who came out of Houston. He developed these players in a great way. Then he had played with [John] Havlicek, and he had a chance to coach Havlicek.

“What a job he did! Because his top the play is top to coach players that you play with. He did a tremendous job and so, Don Nelson was one of the other players, Satch Sanders. He was still there. So it was a trying time for him, but hey we won two championships, he gets things that other people have not done.”

The aforementioned names helped the Celtics bounce back to their old glory in the 70s. Tommy played a pivotal part as a rookie in helping the Celtics win its first championship. He was great at both ends of the court. Last, his unapologetic Homerism brought the Celtics fans pride and nostalgia every time he spoke as a broadcaster. Fortunately for Tommy, he witnessed the present-day Celtics led by Jayson Tatum reach the EC Finals in 2020. 

We, along with all the other greats, pay our deepest respect to his contribution towards the sport.

Read also – Doc Rivers Shares NBA Referees’ Hilarious Request for Boston Celtics Legend Tommy Heinsohn