Satch Sanders
Thomas Ernest "Satch" Sanders (born November 8, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played his entire professional career as a power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Sanders' eight championships are tied third for most NBA championships and he is one of three NBA players with an unsurpassed 8–0 record in NBA Finals series outcomes.[1] After his playing retirement, he served as a head coach for the Harvard Crimson men's basketball team and the Boston Celtics.
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, New York | November 8, 1938
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Seward Park (New York City, New York) |
College | NYU (1957–1960) |
NBA draft | 1960 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall |
Selected by the Boston Celtics | |
Playing career | 1960–1973 |
Position | Power forward |
Number | 16 |
Coaching career | 1973–1978 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1960–1973 | Boston Celtics |
As coach: | |
1973–1977 | Harvard |
1977–1978 | Boston Celtics (assistant) |
1978 | Boston Celtics |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Career playing statistics | |
Points | 8,766 (9.6 ppg) |
Rebounds | 5,798 (6.3 rpg) |
Assists | 1,026 (1.1 apg) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Career coaching record | |
NBA | 23–39 (.371) |
College | 40–60 (.400) |
Basketball Hall of Fame |
Sanders was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Biography
After playing at New York University as a stand out collegian, he spent all of his 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Boston Celtics. He scored a career-high 30 points to go along with 26 rebounds in a 142-110 win over the Syracuse Nationals.[2] He was part of the eight championship teams in 1961–66, 1968 and 1969. In NBA history, only teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones have won more championship rings during their playing careers (three other teammates, John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn and K. C. Jones, also won eight championship rings). He ended his career in 1973.
Following his playing career Sanders became the basketball coach at Harvard University, a position he held until 1977. Sanders became the first African-American to serve as a head coach of any sport in the Ivy League.[3] In 1978, Sanders became the head coach of the Boston Celtics, taking over for former teammate Tommy Heinsohn. Sanders returned the following season; however after a 2–12 record he was replaced by Dave Cowens, who took on the role as a player-coach.
In 1986, Sanders founded the Rookie Transition Program - the first such program in any major American sport.
NBA career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
† | Won an NBA championship |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1960–61† | Boston | 68 | 15.9 | .420 | .670 | 5.7 | 0.6 | 5.3 |
1961–62† | Boston | 80 | 29.1 | .435 | .749 | 9.5 | 0.9 | 11.2 |
1962–63† | Boston | 80 | 26.9 | .456 | .738 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 10.8 |
1963–64† | Boston | 80 | 29.6 | .417 | .761 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 11.4 |
1964–65† | Boston | 80 | 30.7 | .429 | .745 | 8.3 | 1.2 | 11.8 |
1965–66† | Boston | 72 | 26.3 | .428 | .764 | 7.1 | 1.3 | 12.6 |
1966–67 | Boston | 81 | 23.8 | .428 | .817 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 10.2 |
1967–68† | Boston | 78 | 25.4 | .428 | .784 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 10.2 |
1968–69† | Boston | 82 | 26.6 | .430 | .733 | 7.0 | 1.3 | 11.2 |
1969–70 | Boston | 57 | 28.4 | .443 | .880 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 11.5 |
1970–71 | Boston | 17 | 7.1 | .364 | .875 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
1971–72 | Boston | 82 | 19.9 | .410 | .816 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 6.6 |
1972–73 | Boston | 59 | 7.2 | .315 | .657 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
Career | 916 | 24.2 | .428 | .767 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 9.6 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1961† | Boston | 10 | 21.6 | .493 | .625 | 8.4 | 0.7 | 8.9 |
1962† | Boston | 14 | 31.4 | .431 | .806 | 8.2 | 1.0 | 10.1 |
1963† | Boston | 13 | 29.8 | .437 | .774 | 7.4 | 1.5 | 9.8 |
1964† | Boston | 10 | 30.2 | .362 | .676 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 9.1 |
1965† | Boston | 12 | 30.4 | .421 | .721 | 8.5 | 1.6 | 13.3 |
1966† | Boston | 17 | 29.4 | .483 | .750 | 6.5 | 1.6 | 13.5 |
1967 | Boston | 9 | 16.0 | .344 | .400 | 4.8 | 0.6 | 4.9 |
1968† | Boston | 14 | 20.6 | .505 | .762 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 8.3 |
1969† | Boston | 15 | 13.1 | .438 | .742 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 5.8 |
1972 | Boston | 11 | 16.9 | .321 | .619 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 4.3 |
1973 | Boston | 5 | 4.8 | .556 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.0 |
Career | 130 | 23.5 | .436 | .716 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 8.8 |
References
- Berkman, Seth (June 19, 2016), "N.B.A. Finals Legend or Loser? Luck Is Often the Difference", The New York Times
- "Syracuse Nationals at Boston Celtics Box Score, March 13, 1962". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)