When Doctor Jack Helped The Celtics

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4712666/when-dr-jack-helped-the-celts


When Dr. Jack helped the Celts
April, 28, 2014
APR 28
11:35
PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com




http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:10851091



Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay passed away Monday at the age of 89. We encourage you to read all the coverage to appreciate his impact on basketball, his family, and pretty much anyone who crossed his path.

Dr. Ramsay's passing got us thinking back to a brief cameo he made with the Celtics back in 2001 when his son-in-law, Jim O'Brien, was coaching the green. From Peter May in the Boston Globe from October of that year:
They walked out to the floor side by side. It was Jim O'Brien's first exhibition game in his first full season as head coach of the Boston Celtics. It was Jack Ramsay's first game as the Celtics' Unofficial Gray Eminence for the coach, who also happens to be his son-in-law.

The presence of the venerable Ramsay during these first two weeks of training camp has been a boon to the new coach. O'Brien has a Hall of Fame mind at his beck and call at every practice (and probably at the dinner table as well). Ramsay, 76, won almost 1,110 games as a coach in college and in the NBA and was named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history in 1996. He knows his stuff.

Needless to say, "in-law" in the O'Brien house doesn't conjure up images of hard-of-hearing retirees who don't know when to leave or when to stop talking. O'Brien and Ramsay talk often during the season, probably more than most in-laws do. After O'Brien took over last January from Rick Pitino, the calls got more frequent, the talk more inquisitive. When O'Brien opened his first training camp as the Celtics' head coach, he asked his father-in-law to come along for the ride.

It's been as much fun for Ramsay as it has been helpful for O'Brien.

"It's the first time I've been on the floor with him when he's actually been coaching as the head coach," Ramsay said before last night's exhibition opener against the Hornets. "To watch him coach every day has really been very rewarding for me. I think he's done an excellent job, and the players have been very receptive to what he's trying to do."

Ramsay will accompany the Celtics to Texas for their weekend whirl through the Lone Star State to face Dallas and San Antonio. He'll part company when the team heads on to Charlotte early next week. He'll then return to his regular gig as radio analyst for ESPN.

He'll also expect his share of calls again this season.

"I watched all the [Celtics] games before, but this year, I suspect they'll be a lot more nerve-wracking," Ramsay said. "Last year, so many of their games went down to the wire, literally. And it's always different when you're the head coach instead of the assistant. It's a big transition. But I see Jim as very much in control, poised. I'm impressed."



bob
MY NOTE: The second link, the one that's part of the article, is a video tribute from ESPN. It's not youtube, so I couldn't just insert it.


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Rest in peace, Dr. Jack.  You're really the only General Manager that beat the Russell Celtics for the championship.  (Bill Russell's injury beat them nine years earlier.)  You should have made the Hall of Fame for that feat alone.  Winning the respect of a Celtics fan is also no minor achievement.

Sam

Sam,

I know Dr. Jack was the GM with the 76ers, but I always considered Alex Hannum as the coach who beat the Russell Celtics since he was the coach of the Hawks in 1957-58 and the 76ers in 1966-67, the only two years in Russell's career that he didn't win the title.

I'm certainly not trying to take anything away from Dr. Jack. I've always respected him tremendously, the Portland championship team that he led is one of my favorites, and he is one of the few people who was universally beloved in the business for his ability and as a person. He deserves all the accolades.

Outside,

Sorry for the incorrect reference. Thanks for catching it. I've now corrected it.

Sam