A great player, coach and executive. How many people ever do that hat trick?
When it comes to the Boston Celtics dynasty that Red Auerbach built in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, Bill Russell gets the most attention, followed by Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, KC Jones and Tommy Heinsohn. One guy who sort of gets overlooked was the great Bill Sharman.
Sharman, who was born in 1926, was a superb athlete. He was a Dodgers prospect but quit before making the Show after he broke his hand and focused on basketball.
With Boston, Auerbach paired him with Cousy and made the first modern backcourt with a shooter and a playmaker.
He played for the Celtics for 10 seasons before retiring in 1961. Sharman then became a coach, and when he took over the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971. In 1972, the Lakers had one of the greatest NBA seasons in history, highlighted by a still-record 33 game win streak.
After getting out of coaching, he became L.A.’s G.M. and helped lay the foundations for the great Showtime run of the 1980’s when he took his team up against that of his old Boston coach, Auerbach.
He has four rings as a player, one as a coach and 10 as an executive.
It may seem minor, but he’s also the guy who invented the morning shoot around. He said it would develop memory muscle.
After L.A.’s epic 1973 season, every team in the league started a shoot around.
