Written By:  Michael D. McClellan | Don Nelson is enshrined in the Hall of Fame as a coach, and rightly so; the winner of 1,335 NBA games sits alone atop the list of all-time great coaches, collecting more Ws than legends like Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, and Greg Popovich. He wins the NBA Coach of the Year Award three […]

By:  Michael D. McClellan |  He is born to run, and for 16 seasons John Havlicek is an unyielding force of perpetual motion for the Boston Celtics, breaking down defenders and NBA records alike, winning eight NBA championships, first as Sixth Man extraordinaire, and then as an All-Star standout in the waning years of the Russell […]

By:  Michael D. McClellan |  His arrival in Boston coincided with that of a certain shot-blocking, game-altering, paradigm-shifting center named Bill Russell, his considerable basketball talent overshadowed by the dazzling ball handling of fellow Holy Cross alum Bob Cousy and the dead-eye marksmanship of the gifted Bill Sharman.  There would soon be other marquee players added […]

By:  Michael D. McClellan | The player and the teams he plays on are a paradox, unfairly dismissed as a bridge between the two greatest eras in franchise history, and alternately lionized for one triumphant moment, a contest so thrilling that the league’s marketing apparatus dubs Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals “The Greatest Game […]

By:  Michael D. McClellan | The dream starts here, in the gang-infested, drug-ravaged projects of New York’s South Bronx, a place where bullets fly and dreams die in near synchronous rhythm, a concert of violence that plays on a continuous loop next door, down the street, all around.  Murder in the 4-0 – New York’s 40th […]

By:  Michael D. McClellan |  He played in the league with that red, white and blue ball, teaming with the great Rick Barry and doing battle with the incomparable Julius Erving, but his ultimate thrill was winning an NBA Championship with Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Jo Jo White, and the rest of the 1975-76 Boston Celtics. […]