Tom Heinsohn

Thomas William Heinsohn was born on August 26, 1934, in Jersey City, New Jersey. Heinsohn moved while in elementary school to Union City, New Jersey, where he was a standout at St. Michael's High School.^[1]

Heinsohn accepted a scholarship to Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and became the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,789 points, an average of 22.1 points per game. During his senior year, Heinsohn scored a school-record 51 points in a game against Boston College, and averaged 27.4 points per game and 21.1 rebounds per game for the season.^[2]

Heinsohn's broadcasting career began in 1966, calling play-by-play for WKBG's Celtics broadcasts, after being asked by Red Auerbach.^[7] He spent three seasons in this role before becoming coach in 1969. From 1990 to 1999, Heinsohn was the Celtics' road play-by-play man on WFXT, WSBK and WABU. In 1981, Heinsohn joined Mike Gorman as color commentator on PRISM New England, which held the Celtics' television broadcasts. They became one of the longest-tenured tandems in sports broadcasting history. Occasionally, Bob Cousy made appearances with the tandem of Heinsohn and Gorman. On Celtics broadcasts, Heinsohn liked to point out players who displayed extra hustle to help the team by giving them "Tommy Points." One player in each game had exceptional play and hustle highlighted for the "Tommy Award".^{[permanent dead link‍]} During broadcasts he was known for his sense of humor and indignantly questioning game officials when he felt calls against the Celtics were made in error.

For a time in the 1980s, Heinsohn was in the same capacity during CBS's playoff coverage of the NBA (with Dick Stockton), calling four Finals from 1984 to 1987, three of which involved the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers. Heinsohn also teamed with Brent Musburger, Verne Lundquist,^[8] and James Brown during his time with CBS. Heinsohn also called NCAA college basketball during the Men's Tournaments starting with the 1986–87 season, later devoting more time to calling college games for CBS than the pros, being used for regular season as well as tournament games until the 1990 NCAA men's basketball tournament. For NCAA games, Heinsohn was typically paired with Verne Lundquist. After the 1987 NBA season, Heinsohn was moved from the primary color analyst role to 2nd on the network's depth chart, being paired with Brent Musburger for the 1987–88 season, calling solely playoff games.^[8] Heinsohn in the 1988–89 season again only called playoff games, paired with Verne Lundquist.^[8] In his final season, Heinsohn called a regular-season game for CBS as well as early-round 1990 NBA playoff games with James Brown.

Heinsohn was married to Diane Regenhard. Their marriage ended in divorce.^[9] Tom and Diane Heinsohn had three children: Paul, David, and Donna. He had 5 grandchildren: Danielle, Victoria, Brooke, Adrian, and Christopher. Heinsohn's second wife was Helen Weiss, who died in 2008.^[10]

Away from the court, Heinsohn enjoyed painting and playing golf; he once headed a life insurance company. In 1988, he wrote a memoir titled "Give 'em the Hook",^[11] with writer Joe Fitzgerald.

Heinsohn died at his home from kidney failure on November 9, 2020, at the age of 86.^[12]

• 10-time NBA Champion (eight as a player, two as a head coach)
• 1957 Rookie of the Year
• Six-time NBA All-Star
• 1973 Coach of the Year
• Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (as a player in 1986, and as a coach in 2015)^[13]
• Recipient of the 1995 Jack McMahon Award by the National Basketball Coaches Association
• Recipient of the 2009 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award by the NBA Coaches Association^[2]
• Number 15 retired by the Boston Celtics.
• Number 24 retired by Holy Cross

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game
• List of NBA players with most championships