This inspired me to look up Selvy's background. He is nearing his 89th birthday. In 1954, playing for Furman he scored 100 against Newbury College, still the record for a Division I game. Here is what Wikipedia says about this 1962 game 7:
"Selvy's best known game in the NBA is probably Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals in which he almost defeated the Celtics. Selvy's Lakers faced a four-point deficit at the hands of Boston Celtics in the final minute of the game's fourth quarter. Selvy then proceeded to secure two crucial rebounds and score two baskets to tie the game at 100. However, he lost his chance for the ultimate heroic moment as he missed a 12-foot jump shot right before the buzzer that would have secured the championship for the Lakers had it gone in. The miss sent the game to overtime, where the Celtics prevailed in this, the second of seven NBA Finals match-ups between Boston and Los Angeles over the course of eleven seasons.
Regrettably for Selvy, his missed shot gained even larger significance as those years went by because the Lakers ultimately lost every one of those championship battles with the Celtics, thus magnifying the pain of Los Angeles having lost a golden opportunity, with Selvy's shot, to end that streak of futility before it had even begun. (The Lakers, while still playing in Minneapolis, had lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals in 1959, as well.)
The player who initially had the ball on that final play was Rod "Hot Rod" Hundley. And Hundley had in fact dreamt the night before that he would make the championship-winning shot. And further, after pump-faking his defender into the air, Hundley indeed briefly had an opening to take a shot. But rather than selfishly insisting upon attempting to play out his dream in real life, when Hundley noticed that Selvy was open for an even better shot — a shot that Selvy usually could be counted upon to make — Hundley gave up his own chance for glory and passed the ball. Selvy's miss, however, meant that Hundley's sacrifice had been for naught and that Hundley would never know if indeed he would have won the championship himself, had he taken the shot he had available. Because of this, Hundley would occasionally call Selvy and, when Selvy answered the phone, Hundley would simply say, "Nice shot!" and then hang up. For his part, Selvy has expressed some degree of irritation at Hundley's teasing.
It was a fairly tough shot because I was almost on the baseline. But I would trade all my points for that last basket.
That game seven was my first recollection of Celtic basketball. I was all of nine years old; the game was televised on the old channel 5 in Boston. Don Gillis was the announcer.
i'm 71 yearrs old almost @ a month away ,but having seen the Celtics and Russell play many times and at the old garden ,he would be my # 1 selection alltime for players ! GOAT is winning championships ,inspiring others,leading by example ! never has one man do so much and earn so much success throughout his life from every level ,college,olympics,and professional ! he played,coached and was a motivator ! GOAT is MR. WILLIAM JEFFERSON RUSSELL ! yes including civil rights advocate ! a complete honorable man ! hall of fame and the best !
This inspired me to look up Selvy's background. He is nearing his 89th birthday. In 1954, playing for Furman he scored 100 against Newbury College, still the record for a Division I game. Here is what Wikipedia says about this 1962 game 7:
"Selvy's best known game in the NBA is probably Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals in which he almost defeated the Celtics. Selvy's Lakers faced a four-point deficit at the hands of Boston Celtics in the final minute of the game's fourth quarter. Selvy then proceeded to secure two crucial rebounds and score two baskets to tie the game at 100. However, he lost his chance for the ultimate heroic moment as he missed a 12-foot jump shot right before the buzzer that would have secured the championship for the Lakers had it gone in. The miss sent the game to overtime, where the Celtics prevailed in this, the second of seven NBA Finals match-ups between Boston and Los Angeles over the course of eleven seasons.
Regrettably for Selvy, his missed shot gained even larger significance as those years went by because the Lakers ultimately lost every one of those championship battles with the Celtics, thus magnifying the pain of Los Angeles having lost a golden opportunity, with Selvy's shot, to end that streak of futility before it had even begun. (The Lakers, while still playing in Minneapolis, had lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals in 1959, as well.)
The player who initially had the ball on that final play was Rod "Hot Rod" Hundley. And Hundley had in fact dreamt the night before that he would make the championship-winning shot. And further, after pump-faking his defender into the air, Hundley indeed briefly had an opening to take a shot. But rather than selfishly insisting upon attempting to play out his dream in real life, when Hundley noticed that Selvy was open for an even better shot — a shot that Selvy usually could be counted upon to make — Hundley gave up his own chance for glory and passed the ball. Selvy's miss, however, meant that Hundley's sacrifice had been for naught and that Hundley would never know if indeed he would have won the championship himself, had he taken the shot he had available. Because of this, Hundley would occasionally call Selvy and, when Selvy answered the phone, Hundley would simply say, "Nice shot!" and then hang up. For his part, Selvy has expressed some degree of irritation at Hundley's teasing.
It was a fairly tough shot because I was almost on the baseline. But I would trade all my points for that last basket.
— Frank Selvy as quoted on NBA.com"
That game seven was my first recollection of Celtic basketball. I was all of nine years old; the game was televised on the old channel 5 in Boston. Don Gillis was the announcer.
i'm 71 yearrs old almost @ a month away ,but having seen the Celtics and Russell play many times and at the old garden ,he would be my # 1 selection alltime for players ! GOAT is winning championships ,inspiring others,leading by example ! never has one man do so much and earn so much success throughout his life from every level ,college,olympics,and professional ! he played,coached and was a motivator ! GOAT is MR. WILLIAM JEFFERSON RUSSELL ! yes including civil rights advocate ! a complete honorable man ! hall of fame and the best !