He was a Knick nemesis for years, part of the Boston crew that I grew to hate as a youngster. Got give him his respect as the first "sixth man". When Bird entered the league I thought he was Havlicek's replacement.
Rest in Peace.
Was lucky to see Hondo's last game as a Celtic, at the Capital Center vs the Bullets, before he retired. Fans gave him a nice send off. One of the greats.
Great battles between him and Bradley. He and Jerry Lucas played at Ohio State. Lucas very under rated historically. If they had 3pt line back then he would have been more so.
He was a center who could shoot long range His rebounding acumen kept him at the 5. Reed was toast by 1972. Jerry and Dave D. carried the load up front. Lakers 1972 team ranks as one of the all time greats. They won 33 straight a record that stands today. They won 69 games which stood until the bulls and more recently GSW won 73. West and Goodrich in the back court were better than Clyde/Earl. Knicks took care of them the next year which by then West and Wilt were cooked.
Havlicek spanned two eras of Celtics. Their rise in 1974 with Cowens was annoying as anything. Celtics won in 1974 with him as MVP I think he retired soon after. Dude was the epitome of Celtic greatness.
Looking through some online footage of Hondo I just learned that Bobby Knight was on his Ohio St team. Bobby Knight is an a hole but that sounds like pretty decent squad with Hondo, Jerry Lucas, and Bobby Knight.
