On this day in 1962: John Havlicek’s NBA debut — six points for the Celtics, two months after the Browns cut him

Sixty-four years ago next Tuesday, John Havlicek played his first NBA game. On Saturday, October 20, 1962, at Boston Garden, the Celtics rookie scored six points in 25 minutes as Boston opened its title defense by routing the New York Knicks 149-116. Two months earlier, the Cleveland Browns had cut him.

Nobody in the building could have known it, but the quiet forward from Ohio State would go on to play more games and score more points than anyone in Celtics history. His first night was a small part of a very loud win.

• Result: Celtics 149, Knicks 116 — Saturday, October 20, 1962, Boston Garden. Boston’s first game of the 1962-63 season.
• By quarter: New York 27-32-33-24; Boston 44-36-42-27. The Celtics led by 17 after one quarter and 80-59 at halftime.
• John Havlicek (Boston): 6 points (2-6 FG, 2-2 FT), 4 assists and 3 fouls in 25 minutes — NBA debut. He was the second-most-used Celtic behind Bill Russell.
• Celtics leaders: Sam Jones 25 points on 12-of-13 shooting in 24 minutes; Bill Russell 20 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists in 28 minutes; Tom Heinsohn 20; Frank Ramsey 16 off the bench; Bob Cousy 7 points and 11 assists.
• Knicks leaders: Richie Guerin and Gene Shue 20 points each; Willie Naulls 19; Johnny Green 18 points and 12 rebounds; Gene Conley 11 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.
• The difference: Boston made 63 of 126 shots to New York’s 45 of 117, out-rebounded the Knicks 86-68 and finished with 40 assists to 15.

The football detour

Havlicek arrived in Boston by way of a football camp. Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, he was an all-state quarterback at Bridgeport High School, then skipped college football to play basketball at Ohio State, where he played alongside Jerry Lucas on the Buckeyes team that won the 1960 national title.

In the spring of 1962 he was drafted twice. The Celtics took him in the first round of the NBA draft on March 26, ninth overall. Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns had already used a seventh-round pick, No. 95 overall, on him in the NFL draft, even though he had never played a down for the Buckeyes. Havlicek signed with Cleveland in June and spent the summer in camp as a receiver.

It did not stick. The Browns had taken another 6-foot-5 receiver, Gary Collins, with the fourth overall pick that same year, and they released Havlicek on August 22, 1962. He reported to Red Auerbach instead, and Cleveland’s loss became the start of a 16-year career in green.

A night of newcomers and old faces

Havlicek was not the only new Celtic on the floor. Clyde Lovellette, a future Hall of Fame center, had been bought from the St. Louis Hawks for cash and a draft pick only five days earlier, on October 15. He played 20 minutes in his first Boston game and finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

On the other bench sat a familiar face. Gene Conley had won three straight titles as a Celtics backup from 1959 to 1961, and he had spent the summer of 1962 pitching for the Boston Red Sox, going 15-14 in a career-high 241 2/3 innings. His NBA rights had moved to New York in a September trade, so his return to Boston Garden came in a Knicks uniform. He is still the only athlete to win both a World Series ring (1957 Milwaukee Braves) and an NBA championship.

The Knicks were heading for a hard winter. They finished 21-59 under Eddie Donovan, last in the Eastern Division. Boston went 58-22, beat Cincinnati in seven games in the division finals and took the Lakers in six for a fifth straight championship. It was Bob Cousy’s last season with the Celtics, and the first of Havlicek’s eight titles.

From sixth man to franchise leader

Havlicek’s rookie numbers were steady rather than spectacular: 80 games, 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 27.5 minutes a night, good enough for the All-Rookie team. Auerbach used him as a sixth man, the role Frank Ramsey had made famous, and he took it over completely.

His most famous moment came on April 15, 1965, when he stole Hal Greer’s inbounds pass in the final seconds of Game 7 of the Eastern Division finals against Philadelphia to save the Celtics’ season. Later he became the bridge between eras: a key piece of the Russell dynasty in the 1960s and the leader of the Dave Cowens teams that won titles in 1974 and 1976. He was Finals MVP in 1974.

By the time he retired in 1978, Havlicek had played 1,270 regular-season games, all for Boston, and scored 26,395 points, still the Celtics’ career record. He averaged 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists, made 13 All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams and 8 All-Defensive teams, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984. He was named to the NBA’s 50th and 75th anniversary teams. Havlicek died on April 25, 2019, at 79.

The box score on Basketball-Reference from that October night lists no rebounds for him at all, a gap common to records from the era. It is a fitting start for a player who did a little of everything and never made a fuss about it.