Any person who considers themselves an NBA fan is almost certainly familiar with Tommy Heinsohn, the Boston Celtics super homer who has been the target of much scorn and ridicule from League Pass veterans and casual NBA TV watchers for years. Heinsohn’s loyalty is derived from his days as a Celtics player (1956-65) and coach (1969-78), after which he joined the Celtics’ broadcasting team for good in 1981. But he actually began his broadcasting career in 1966 as the Celtics’ television play-by-play announcer. According to old-timey Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan, Heinsohn’s homerism wasn’t any less apparent back then. The thing is, his on-air comments went mostly unnoticed because everyone tuned in to hear Johnny Most on the radio broadcast.
In his new book, Scribe: My Life in Sports, the curmudgeonly Ryan includes an excerpt of a column he wrote in November 1967 (note: Bill Russell was still two years away from retiring at that point. That’s how long Ryan’s been doing this), where he tore Heinsohn apart for his lack of professionalism.
cc: @awfulannouncing RT @manecci: Bob Ryan on Tommy Heinsohn in an article from Nov 1967. pic.twitter.com/QEHRxcD8q1
— Andrew Ungvari (@DrewUnga) October 9, 2014
For all of Ryan’s griping about various things over the years (ask him about the existence of the three-point line sometime — I dare you), his stance on athletes-turned-broadcasters, and the ensuing trainwreck it entailed, is a topic he appeared to be ahead of the curve on. And he has a 47 year sample size — minus Charles Barkley and a few others — to (mostly) back it up. Actually, he probably hates Barkley too, because Bob Ryan hates everything. But he does know basketball.
