CLEVELAND, Ohio — Boston Celtics star John Havlicek, by way of Bridgeport, Ohio, and Ohio State, died on Thursday in Jupiter, Florida. He was 79.
Havlicek accomplished many great things in 16 seasons with the Celtics including winning eight NBA championships and becoming the Celtics’ all-time leading scorer. He was also named one of the Fifty Greatest Players in NBA History and was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.
It all started in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and tiny Bridgeport High School, on the banks of the Ohio River, where Havlicek was an all-state athlete in basketball, football and baseball.
Havlicek went to Ohio State to play basketball and baseball. In 1960, he helped lead the basketball team to Ohio State’s only national title. At OSU, he met his future wife, Beth Evans, a Painesville native who survives him along with two children and several grandchildren.
As a senior in 1962, Havilcek was drafted by both the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and the NBA’s Boston Celtics.
He was released by the Browns, so he went to the Celtics and promptly helped them win six straight NBA titles.
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