Tom Heinsohn probably entirely owes his spot in the top 100
to Bill Russell – but here he is.
Heinsohn was the scoring forward before John Havlicek in the
Russell-Celtics dynasty. Heinsohn played nine seasons and was a part of eight NBA
championship teams. Heinsohn actually came into the league the same year as
Russell. He was a territorial draft pick out of Holy Cross back when they had
such a thing. He had to share the ball with Hall of Famers such as Sam Jones,
Bill Sharman, Bob Cousy and Russell, but still he led the Celtics in scoring in
1959-1960, 1960-1961 and 1961-1962.
He would have led the Celtics a couple of more season if he
wasn’t such a heavy smoker. Because of his nicotine addiction, Red Auerbach would
give him “hockey shifts.” He never averaged more than 32.3 minutes per game in
his career. By 1963-1964, Havlicek, who could run all day, was taking his
minutes. Heinsohn was out of the NBA by the age of 31.
He had solid statistics through his career. His PERs ranged
from 16.9 to 20.0 his first eight years in the league. His win shares ranged
from 6.0 to 9.3. Those scores wouldn’t have gotten him anywhere near the top
100. It was the winning that secured him a spot. The Celtics won 72.6 percent
of his regular season games and 66.4 percent of his playoff games. In a system
tilted toward winning, he was one of the very biggest winners.
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Tom
Heinsohn bio info
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Career
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1956-1965
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|
Games
|
654
|
|
Points
|
18.6
|
|
Rebounds
|
8.8
|
|
Assists
|
2.0
|
|
FG Pct.
|
40.5%
|
|
All-Star games
|
6
|
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MVPs
|
0
|
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NBA titles
|
8
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Playoff seasons
|
9
|
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Playoff games
|
104
|
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Points
|
19.8
|
|
Rebounds
|
9.2
|
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Assists
|
2.1
|
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FG Pct.
|
40.2%
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Hall of Fame
|
2015
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Top 100
rankings
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||
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Points
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Top 100 ranking
|
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1-year
|
295.46
|
96th
|
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5-year
|
1,433.55
|
50th
|
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10-year
|
2,459.32
|
52nd
|
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Career
|
2,459.32
|
89th
|
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Tom
Heinsohn at his peak
|
|||
|
1960-1961
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Heinsohn
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Top 5
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Points
|
|
PER
|
18.4
|
25.67
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
6.6
|
14.97
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
VORP
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
25.0
|
40.63
|
61.52
|
|
Playoff PER
|
18.6
|
22.91
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
0.8
|
1.97
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
VORP
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
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Total Advanced Stats
|
19.4
|
24.87
|
78.00
|
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Reg. Season Win %
|
72.97
|
|
72.97
|
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Playoff Win %
|
80.00
|
80.00
|
|
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MVP Voting (75 points)
|
15/380
|
|
2.96
|
|
Playoff MVP (25 points)
|
0
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0
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Total Score
|
|
|
295.46
|
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Heinsohn’s 10 greatest seasons
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|
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1960-1961
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295.46
|
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1959-1960
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293.24
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1956-1957
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284.32
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1958-1959
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283.54
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1962-1963
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276.98
|
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1963-1964
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274.19
|
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1961-1962
|
260.91
|
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1957-1958
|
257.73
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1964-1965
|
232.94
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|
NA
|
NA
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Career
winning percentage
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|||
|
|
W
|
L
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Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
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473
|
179
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72.55%
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Playoffs
|
69
|
35
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66.35%
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