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TOMMY HEINSOHN DISOWNS HIS KID BECAUSE HE WENT TO DUKE LIKE DANNY FERRY. "I'm very aware. Every city in North America with a big-league sports franchise has its roster of local legends, but not all of them morph into commercial spokesmen to the degree that Heinsohn has. And in 2009, he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the integrity, class and competitive excellence he brought to the game of basketball. As long as there are the Boston Celtics, Tommys spirit will remain alive. There are no more Tommy Heinsohns. He, not Bill Russell, was the official NBA Rookie of the Year during their mutual inaugural campaign of 1956-57 (Russell joined the team fresh from the Melbourne Olympics after 24 games). He led the Celtics in scoring three times during those years, made six All-Star appearances, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team four times. Sadly, there will be no more Tommy Points. Mr. Celtic has left us. He loved it up here, quite frankly, Shaw said. His point production had fallen every year since his career high of 22.1 ppg in 1961-62. He was a first-team All-American and played on a Crusaders team (with Ronnie Perry and Togo Palazzi) that won the National Invitation Tournament when it was a bigger deal than the NCAA Tournament. That was verylucrative. One of the best locally-produced, locally-aired television commercials to light up our flat-screens over the past year has Tommy Heinsohn as its star. Yes, he earned a living as an insurance salesman make that a. Heinsohn and Bill Russell were in the same rookie class. He loved basketball, he loved the Celtics and he always wanted to win. Heinsohn was a Jersey Boy. He is a true renaissance man, an accomplished painter specializing in water colors and oils. The broadcast booth is where Heinsohn would eventually spend most of his basketball career, but first, he had to try out the coaching game. Some of his favorite lines were telling the referees to go home, or saying that calls were "bogus." I see officials intimidated by the crowd, holding grudges, becoming personal. Six-time All-Star. In one way or another, Heinsohn has been part of the Celtics for 57 years. That spring Heinsohn and Russell helped to lead Boston to its first championship, while playing alongside other future Hall-of-Famers in Bob Cousy, Frank Ramsey and Bill Sharman. Tom started his broadcasting career in 1996 with WKBG's Celtics working as their play-by-play man for three seasons. At the same time, I also was absorbing the wisdom of the Havliceks, Nelsons, Silases, and Sanderses of the world, and the time would come when Tommy would take issue with some of my writing when the thoughts expressed differed with his. There isnt a generation of Celtics fans for whom Tommys presence hasnt been felt, the Celtics said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "The team before us won 11 of 13, and then Larry captivated everybody,'' said Heinsohn. Tommy was truly a pioneer in player empowerment, championing the notion of free agency at a time when it was highly controversial and unpopular, and fighting to create our NBA Players Pension Plan, under which generations of players have thrived.. It was a powder blue suit with peg pants you know, skinny at the bottom. He was one of the few people to call me Bobby, and I would consider him to have been a friend. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some of his best officiating moments: My favorite Tommy Heinsohn rant - from a PRESEASON game: pic.twitter.com/PcGmryx8Ca, Heinsohn's passion for the Celtics was unmatched, and there were times where he'd get so excited he was lost for words. With no experience as a coach, Heinsohn was supposed to create a team that could carry on the winning ways Boston fans had grown to expect without the services of the greatest defensive center the game had ever seen, and with one of the greatest coaches of all time scrutinizing his every move.