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.

Satch Sanders
Personal information
Born (1938-11-08) November 8, 1938
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolSeward Park
(New York City, New York)
CollegeNYU (1957–1960)
NBA draft1960 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1960–1973
PositionPower forward
Number16
Coaching career1973–1978
Career history
As player:
1960–1973Boston Celtics
As coach:
1973–1977Harvard
1977–1978Boston Celtics (assistant)
1978Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Career playing statistics
Points8,766 (9.6 ppg)
Rebounds5,798 (6.3 rpg)
Assists1,026 (1.1 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career coaching record
NBA23–39 (.371)
College40–60 (.400)
Basketball Hall of Fame

Sanders was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Biography
Sanders with Boston mayor John F. Collins in the 1960s
Sanders at the New England Basketball Hall of Fame induction dinner in 2013

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
Legend
  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
  1. Berkman, Seth (June 19, 2016), "N.B.A. Finals Legend or Loser? Luck Is Often the Difference", The New York Times
  2. "Syracuse Nationals at Boston Celtics Box Score, March 13, 1962". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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