NBA TRIVIA

Who is the only man to win league MVP and Coach of the Year?

willjr

larry legend

beat

Right again Beat! For a self described "Hick from French Lick" he did pretty well for himself.

willjr

My second favorite player to watch, Hondo will most likely always be number 1. I always thought Havlicek would get into coaching at some level but it never happened.

Wonder if he was offered or just wanted to be done with it after so many years playing. Think he would have made a good one. Never know now.

beat

I think Hondo also would have made a great coach. The old axiom of Great players usually don't make great coaches did not apply to Larry and I don't think it would have applied to Hondo either. Because both of them were not the most athletic or naturally talented players they would have had the patience to deal with the less talented player and they would also put more value and emphasis in hard work and intelligence. I think that in most cases the axiom proves to be true because the great (talented) player can't understand why his players can't get it done when he always could. They don't always realize that overwhelming talent is given out in very small doses and they were one of the fortunate few to receive it. Most others have to get by with work ethic, smarts, determination and strong fundamentals.

Will,

In the years when Havlicek played, it wasn't in vogue to have "name" players become coaches. Guys such as Auerbach and Hannum pretty much dominated the coaching ranks. Russell was an obvious exception, and he was hired very largely so he would be motivated to keep playing under a coach he respected after Red retired.

So guys like Havlicek didn't really have a mind set involving coaching after their playing years. It was still a time when most players had second jobs in the off-season, and I believe the majority of players were hoping to turn those second jobs into primary occupations after they stopped playing.

Havlicek told me in 1969 that he expected to continue being a manufacturer's representative in future years. Moreover, John was always a homebody, the thought of continuing the nomadic life of pro basketball, while not playing, didn't appeal to him. If he was to travel in his job, I think he preferred that the travel be focused on the Ohio area.

After 1969, he and Beth and their kids really seemed to develop strong roots in Boston. Being spotlit as the leader of the team had to have played a strong role in that development. John always invested wisely during his playing days, with Tom Sanders being one of his brokers. After his playing days, he also did very well with his Wendy's franchises. If you're ever traveling through New York State and you eat one of those square Wendy's burgers, you could possibly be helping to line John Havlicek's pockets.

Sam