The Bill Sharman Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, March 20th,
2006
Sharman averaged 20.4 PPG the following season, his ninth in the league, and he reclaimed his spot as the best free-throw shooter in the league. He was an All-NBA First Team selection for the fourth and final time in his illustrious career, and he was once again an NBA All-Star. More importantly, the Celtics were once again world champions, sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers 4-0 and capturing the league crown for the second time in three years.
Sharman’s final two seasons in Boston ended with championship rings and crowded parades, as the Celtics dispatched the Hawks on both occasions. It was also a time of change, as both Cousy and Sharman began to share playing time with two other future Hall of Famers, Sam Jones and KC Jones. The fabled Celtic Dynasty was in full bloom.
Sharman’s 1961 retirement allowed him to return to California, where he was hired to serve as player-coach of the Los Angeles Jets of the American Basketball League. Sharman appeared in 19 games for the Jets, but retired as a player when the franchise folded at midseason. He chose to remain in the ABL that year, accepting an offer to coach the Cleveland Pipers. Ironically, the Pipers were owned by George Steinbrenner, who would later go on to fame as the owner of baseball’s New York Yankees. Under Sharman's direction, the Pipers won the ABL Championship. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year.
The ABL folded shortly after that 1961-62 championship season, but Sharman was clearly hooked on coaching. He had played for the fiery Auerbach, one of the best coaches in history, and he had spent much of his time learning what had made Auerbach successful. So it came as little surprise that, in the summer of 1962, Sharman jumped at the opportunity to become the head coach at Cal State-Los Angeles. He enjoyed modest success, guiding the team to a 27-20 record over two seasons, before leaving to become a broadcaster. Two seasons later, Sharman found himself being courted by the San Francisco Warriors. The timing was perfect. He felt reinvigorated by the prospect of guiding an NBA franchise, and immediately signed on as the team’s head coach. The NBA, however, had become a vastly different place than the one he joined in 1950. He found the modern NBA player difficult to motivate, and unwilling to embrace his regimented approach to conditioning and planning.
While Sharman’s two years at San Francisco did not produce a championship, they were highly successful nonetheless. The Warriors finished 44-37 that first season, and the team finished first in the Western Conference. Spurred by the play of young stars Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond, San Francisco dispatched both the Lakers and the Hawks to reach the 1967 NBA Finals. Huge underdogs against the juggernaut Philadelphia 76ers, Sharman nonetheless matched wits with head coach Alex Hannum and stretched the series to six games. The Sixers, winners of 68 regular season games and loaded with talent such as Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham, closed out the series 125-122 on San Francisco’s home court. The Warriors would reach the Western Finals a year later, where they would suffer an 0-4 sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
After compiling an 87-76 record in San Francisco, Sharman accepted a lucrative offer to become head coach of the Los Angeles Stars of the American Basketball Association. He led the Stars to a 43-41 record in 1969-70 and was named ABA co-Coach of the Year. (Along with Denver's Joe Belmont.) The franchise relocated to Utah a year later, where Sharman guided the team to the 1971 ABA Championship.
The following year, Sharman signed on to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a move that didn’t sit well with Boston Celtic patriarch Red Auerbach, who had defined his coaching career by beating the Lakers on the NBA’s biggest stage. Sharman also had the audacity to enlist another Celtic legend, KC Jones, to work as his assistant coach. Auerbach grudgingly came to accept the moves, which he viewed as treason, in part because Sharman and Jones had played such big roles in building the Celtic Dynasty.
It was during this period in his coaching career that Sharman introduced a revolutionary new approach to game-day preparation. The morning shoot-around, now a universally accepted practice by basketball programs everywhere, was the product of Sharman’s desire to have his players primed to excel at tipoff. Within three years, nearly every NBA franchise had adopted the practice
Losers of seven NBA Finals since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers appeared poised to finally end the drought. The enigmatic Chamberlain was still a dominating presence in the paint, and sharp-shooting Jerry West was in the best shape of his career. With Gail Goodrich, Happy Hairston and Jim McMillan also in the mix, Sharman sensed that this team might have ingredients needed to win a championship. His players would prove his intuition right; from November 5th, 1971 until January 7th, 1972, the Lakers would win an NBA-record 33 consecutive games. Finishing the season at 69-13 – then the best regular-season record in NBA history – Los Angeles stormed through the playoffs and crushed the New York Knicks in the 1972 NBA Finals. Sharman was recognized for his efforts by being named the 1972 NBA Coach of the Year.
New York gained a certain measure of revenge, beating Sharman and the Lakers 4-1 in the 1973 NBA Finals. Los Angeles’ aging roster continued the team on its slow, downward spiral, and Sharman resigned as head coach following the 1975-76 regular season. He then moved into the post of general manager, drafting Magic Johnson and presiding over two additional NBA titles. (1980 and 1982.) In 1982, Sharman moved into the role of club president. The Lakers would win three more titles during that span (’85, ’87, and ’88), becoming the first team to repeat as NBA champions since the 1969 Boston Celtics.
Sharman retired from the daily grind of management following that 1988 NBA title, staying on as a special consultant to the team. By then his legacy was secure. The sweet-shooting perfectionist had engineered a Hall of Fame career as a player for the most decorated franchise in NBA history, and he had followed that act by turning the Lakers into champions six times over.
Celtic Nation is honored to bring you this interview.