He grew up with a basketball in his hands, idolizing his older brother while forging a remarkable legacy of his own, and hoping that one day he, too, would don an NBA uniform and complete against the best athletes in the world.  The spotlight certainly did not intimidate – how could it?  He had played in front of raucous crowds from an early age.  His brother had starred at Eastern High School before him, and had preceded him at Michigan State University.  He had watched the Spartans win a national championship in 1979, his brother teaming with boyhood friend Magic Johnson to conquer Larry Bird and the Cinderella Sycamores, and he had followed that daunting act with an All-American season of his own.  So to say that Sam Vincent seemed predestined for a career in the National Basketball Association would be something of an understatement, and on June 18^th, 1985, the Boston Celtics fulfilled Vincent’s destiny by snatching up the savvy playmaker with the 20^th pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.  For the Celtics, Vincent’s selection was a practical matter based on a need for depth in its backcourt; for Vincent, his arrival in Boston marked the beginning of something else – a thrill ride culminating with arguably the greatest team in NBA history winning a league-record sixteenth championship banner, this with Vincent smack in the middle of it all.

Call it the impatience of youth, but Vincent, circa 1985, had a hard time grasping the special circumstances to which he suddenly found himself privy.  There were contract problems out of the gate, and an agent’s threat of a lengthy holdout in order to get the numbers right.  There were several proven veterans, including starters Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge, entrenched ahead of him on the depth chart.  There was a head coach in place who had spent his entire professional playing career learning the Celtic Way, which is to say that rookies not named Bill Russell and Larry Bird spend most of their first season watching from the sidelines.  The young Sam Vincent had a hard time accepting this.  He was confident in his ability, and felt that he could step in and contribute as the first guard off of the bench.  He also had a hard time understanding the team’s desire to add a veteran ball handler to the mix, a player with NBA experience who could not only spell Ainge and Johnson, but who could perform under the blast-furnace pressure that is NBA playoff basketball.  But before you find fault in his actions, you would be wise to walk a mile in Sam Vincent’s shoes.  When you are that young and that talented, you feel that you can step into a championship situation and contribute immediately, regardless of your own relative inexperience at the pro level.  You see your brother play 81 games as a rookie, albeit on a moribund, 28-win Dallas Maverick squad, and you figure that big-time minutes come as part of the requisite NBA package.  All you need to succeed is the trust of your coaches and teammates, a healthy dose of playing time, and the rest takes care of itself.

Growing up in Lansing, Michigan, Vincent played neighborhood pickup games at a time when an effervescent Magic Johnson was leading Everett High School to a state basketball championship.  He also watched his brother, Jay, star at Eastern and battle Magic for state prep supremacy.  Four years younger than Jay, the Vincent soaked it all in and worked hard to hone his own game.  Even then he was easy with a smile, articulate, and a natural leader.  He arrived at Eastern with the requisite tools to play varsity basketball – good size for a high school guard, exceptional strength, great quickness and leaping ability – but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity ball under the rules at the time.  Still, few doubted that he would make a big-time impact.  Vincent didn’t disappoint; as a sophomore, he hit the ground running, dazzling fans and foes alike, all while leading the Quakers to the semifinals of Michigan’s ultra-competitive high school basketball tournament.  A year later, Eastern claimed the state championship.  Vincent rocketed up-and-down the court that season, averaging more than 20 points-per-game and burnishing his reputation as one of the best high school players in the country.  As a senior, Vincent scored 61 points against Lansing Waverly, a performance that still ranks among the best in the history of Michigan high school basketball.  His average jumped 10 points, to 30-per-game, and scholarship offers poured in.  He was named Michigan’s inaugural Mr. Basketball, and landed on the McDonald’s All-American Team.

Vincent followed his brother’s path to Michigan State, where he put together an incrementally solid, workmanlike career.  Just how good a college basketball player was Sam Vincent?  Twenty years later, his 1,851 points still rank sixth all-time in school history.  His senior average of 23.7 points-per-game was tops in the Big Ten, and he was honored as a Sporting News first team All-American.  (AP and UPI also selected him as a third team All-American.)  Suddenly, Jay’s kid brother was being talked about as a potential lottery pick.