Bill Sharman
William Walton Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what was then considered the greatest backcourt duo of all time. As a coach, Sharman won titles in the ABL, ABA, and NBA, and is credited with introducing the now-ubiquitous morning shootaround.
Personal information
May 25, 1926
Abilene, Texas, U.S.
October 25, 2013 (aged 87)
Redondo Beach, California, U.S.
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
USC (1946–1950)
1950: 2nd round, 17th overall pick
1950–1961
10, 21
1961–1976
12,665 (17.8 ppg)
2,779 (3.9 rpg)
2,101 (3.0 apg)
466–353 (.569)
Sharman was the first North American sports figure to win a championship as a player, coach, and executive. He was a 15-time NBA champion (having won four titles as a player with the Celtics, one as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, and ten as a Lakers executive), and a 17-time World Champion in basketball overall counting his ABL and ABA titles.[1][2] Sharman is also a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted in 1976 as a player, and in 2004 as a coach.[3] Only John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens, Tommy Heinsohn and Bill Russell share this double honor.
Sharman is also notable for coaching the 1971-72 Lakers to an NBA record 33 game win streak, a then-record regular season 69–13 win–loss mark, and the first Lakers championship in Los Angeles.
Early life[edit]
William Walton Sharman was born on May 25, 1926, in Abilene, Texas. He attended Porterville High School, a high school in the Central California city of Porterville, California, where he excelled in basketball and baseball.
College career[edit]
Sharman served during World War II from 1944 to 1946 in the US Navy, and was a graduate of the University of Southern California. He played first base on the 1948 USC Trojans' College World Series championship team. Following his senior year, Sharman was selected as one of the 1950 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.
Professional baseball career[edit]
Minor leagues[edit]
From 1950 to 1955, Sharman played professional baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league system. He was called up to the Dodgers late in the 1951 season but did not appear in a game. He was part of a September 27 game in which the entire Brooklyn bench was cleared from the dugout for arguing with the home plate umpire over a ruling at the plate. This has led to the legend that Sharman holds the distinction of being the only player in baseball history to have ever been ejected from a major league game without ever appearing in one. However, although Sharman was among the Dodger bench players that had to go to the clubhouse, none of them were actually barred from playing in the game. In fact, in the top of the ninth, one of the other dismissed players, Wayne Terwilliger, was used as a pinch-hitter in the game.[4]
Coaching career[edit]
Cleveland Pipers (1961–1962)[edit]
Sharman coached the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League to the league championship in 1962.[3] He next went on to coach Los Angeles State (now California State, Los Angeles) for two seasons.
San Francisco Warriors (1966–1968)[edit]
In 1966, Sharman became the coach of the NBA's San Francisco Warriors. In their first season under Sharman, the Warriors won the Western Division and made it to the Finals, where they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. In his second and final season with the Warriors, the team finished third and lost in the Division Finals to the Lakers.
Executive career[edit]
As Lakers general manager, Sharman built the 1980 and 1982 NBA championship teams, and as Lakers president he oversaw the 1985, 1987, and 1988 NBA championship teams. Sharman retired from the Lakers front office in 1991 at age 65.[7]
Sharman was the author of two books, Sharman on Basketball Shooting and The Wooden-Sharman Method: A Guide to Winning Basketball with John Wooden and Bob Selzer.
The gymnasium at Porterville High School is named after Sharman. After his former basketball team the Los Angeles Jets dissolved in 1962, he sued to enforce his employment contract with the Jets, culminating in the case Sharman v. Longo (1967) 249 Cal.App.2d 948.
In 2013, Sharman sold his 2010 NBA championship ring from the Lakers to benefit charity.[12]
Personal life[edit]
Sharman's marriage to his first wife, Illeana, lasted over 20 years and resulted in four children before their divorce in 1968. He was married to his second wife, Dorothy, from 1969 until her death from cancer in 1975. Sharman married Joyce McLay in 1981, with whom he remained married until his death.[13][14]
Sharman died at his home in Redondo Beach, California, on October 25, 2013, at the age of 87, after having had a stroke the week prior.[15]