According to Mike Gorman’s count, he and the late Tommy Heinsohn sat down together about 2,800 times to call basketball games together.
So when news broke Tuesday of Heinsohn’s passing at age 86, incredible stories about the legendary Hall of Famer came in bulk.
Naturally, his partner in the Boston Celtics broadcast booth had plenty to go around about his disdain for officials, the beautiful wedding gift Heinsohn painted for Gorman and one of our personal favorites, the first time they shared a broadcast booth together.
Apparently Heinsohn thought he was a bit over-prepared to call the game, and when he saw the meticulous notes Gorman brought to use, he threw the card over the rafters at the old Boston Garden.
“Hey kiddo … we’re gonna talk about what we see. That’s all we need to do,” Gorman recalled Heinsohn saying.
And as the play-by-play man said, that’s what the pair continued to do for 39 years.
Be sure to listen to the entire story below. It’s a riot, and if you knew anything about Tommy, it sounds about right.
