Bill Sharman

William Walton Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013), also known as "Battling Bill", was an American professional basketball player and coach. Sharman is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted in 1976 as a player, and in 2004 as a coach. Only John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens, Tommy Heinsohn and Bill Russell share this double honor. Sharman is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s as a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), partnering with fellow Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy in what was then considered the greatest backcourt duo of all time. As a coach, Sharman won titles in the American Basketball League (ABL), American Basketball Association (ABA), and NBA, and is credited with introducing the now-ubiquitous morning shootaround. He was named Coach of the Year in both the ABA and NBA. 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 during his time as a Lakers' general manager, president, and special consultant); and a 17-time champion in professional basketball overall counting his ABL and ABA titles. Sharman coached the 1971–72 Los Angeles 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. Sharman was an All-American basketball player at the University of Southern California (USC). He played under Naismith Hall of Fame head coach Sam Barry. Sharman was selected twice as the Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast Conference. Two of his teammates at USC were future Hall of Fame coaches Alex Hannum and Tex...