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Finkel’s basketball odyssey began in earnest
at the University of Dayton, where he led the nation in field goal
percentage as a senior. The lithe seven-footer also earned All-America
honors in 1966, attracting the attention of scouts throughout the league.
The Chicago Zephyrs ultimately pulled the trigger, selecting Finkel in the
fourth round of the 1966 NBA Draft and immediately trading him to the Los
Angeles Lakers. The San Diego Rockets then took a chance on Finkel after
the Lakers made him available for the 1967 Expansion Draft, and he played
two uneventful seasons in San Diego before landing in Boston. By then
Celtic fans – some of the most knowledgeable basketball fans in the world –
should have known that their new center wasn’t going to dominate in the low
post. Instead, they focused on the success that other players had
experienced after donning the green-and-white, players such as Don Nelson
and Bailey Howell, players who had resurrected their careers in Boston and
helped the Celtics win championships. In doing so, they overlooked one
important fact: These men were brought in to compliment Bill Russell, not
replace him in the pivot. Finkel stood no chance when viewed in that light,
especially that first season as the team sank to 34-48 and missed the
playoffs.
Fast-forward to the following season. With
Cowens and Silas in the fold, and with a young Jo Jo White running the
attack, the Celtics of 1970-71 looked far more impressive than the team that
had struggled a year before. Suddenly, the fans were quick to applaud
Finkel’s efforts. They cheered his trademark picks. They celebrated his
determined moves to the hoop. They gravitated to his easy-go-nature
persona, often approaching him on the street to talk basketball and cop an
autograph. Finkel, improbably, had found a home.
“It was great to see how much the fans cared
about their team, and how passionate they were about the tradition of the
Boston Celtics,” he says. “It was a rough start initially, but I was able
to find my niche. Once we got all of the pieces in place, we were able to
do something pretty special.”
That ‘something’ was an eventual NBA
Championship – the teams’ first since the retirement of Bill Russell. The
Celtics improved to 44-38 following the 1970-71 regular season, and then
56-26 a year later, falling 4-1 to the New York Knicks in the 1972 Eastern
Conference Finals. A team record 68 wins in ’72-’73 had fans talking title,
but another Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Knicks, this a seven game
heartbreaker, took much of the starch out of an otherwise magnificent
season. A year later, however, the Celtics’ championship drought would come
to an end; in a season in which John Havlicek would record his 20,000th
regular-season point, the Celtics would capture their 12th NBA
title by dominating the Milwaukee Bucks in a winner-take-all Game 7, 102-87.
“It was a hard-fought series,” Finkel
recalls. “Neither team could maintain control of home court advantage. We
thought we were going to win the title in Game 6 at the Boston Garden, but
then Kareem hits that huge sky hook at the buzzer to force Game 7 back in
Milwaukee. We pushed the ball hard in that next game, and we made their
guards – particularly Oscar Robertson – work to bring the ball up the
court. It was an unbelievable feeling to win a championship – and my
proudest moment as a Boston Celtic.”
Finkel would retire a season later – his
sixth with the team – but by then the torment of 1969-70 was a distant
memory. He had shown incredible strength and poise in the face of
adversity, and he had become a better person because of it. The fan abuse
also made him more appreciative of the good times. To this day he remains a
beloved figure to fans and teammates alike.”
“I prided myself in doing the little things,
and I think my teammates understood that that’s what I did best. All-Star
players like John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Don Nelson and Jo Jo White need
guys that can do the dirty work. That was my specialty, and that was what I
gave the team every time I stepped on the floor. We were a very close-knit
group. That made winning a championship with them even more special.”
Celtic Nation is honored to bring you this interview.
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