Fifty years ago today, the Boston Celtics won their first of 16 NBA championships by defeating the St. Louis Hawks, 125-123, in two overtimes. Many with the right to an opinion on the matter, people who could pay full homage to Havlicek, Cowens, and the Big Three, say it was the most exhilarating of all the championships and that Game 7 was the Old Garden's Best Game Ever. Heinsohn says that a Russell game-saving block on Jack Coleman with a minute or so remaining in regulation was the single greatest play he's ever seen in his 51 years of NBA participation.
It was the Celtics' 11th year of existence and it was their first serious opportunity to win a title. Anchored by the brilliant backcourt of Cousy and Sharman, they had been textbook bridesmaids, an exciting, high-scoring team lacking the inside might to compete with the NBA's elite. Coach-general manager Red Auerbach began to rectify that situation by drafting a rugged forward from Oregon in 1955 who happily went by the name of "Jungle" Jim Loscutoff, and then Auerbach really hit the jackpot a year later when he took as a so-called "Territorial" draft choice a clever 6-foot-7-inch forward from Holy Cross named Tom Heinsohn, while cleverly maneuvering to draft Russell, the 6-9 center who had led the University of San Francisco to a pair of NCAA titles and the United States to the 1956 gold medal.
As a final piece of the puzzle, the versatile Ramsey, a draft choice who had been drafted into the Army, was allowed back to civilian life.
Russell should need no introduction. However, let the record show that when he joined the team shortly before Christmas (the Olympics had been in Melbourne), the club was already in first place with a 16-8 record. Russell was a revelation with his shot-blocking and rebounding, yes, but Heinsohn had been brilliant from the start and Heinsohn would be selected as Rookie of the Year.
