Bill Sharman
Hall of Fame player and coach who won NBA titles with the Celtics and Lakers.
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.
- role
- Head Coach and Hall of Fame Player
- affiliation
- Cincinnati Royals / Sacramento Kings (as Coach)
- major_honor
- 1972 NBA Championship (Coach)
- shooting_record_holder
- Highest career field goal percentage in NBA history (at retirement)
- hall_of_fame_year
- 1976
- status
- Legendary Figure
Lore & Background
Sharman is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s as a player in the NBA, partnering with fellow Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy. As a coach, Sharman won titles in the ABL, ABA, and NBA, and is credited with introducing the 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 (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.
In Their Own Story
The arena hums with a nervous energy in Cincinnati, 1972. Bill Sharman stands on the sideline, his eyes scanning the hardwood not as a shooter looking for an open lane, but as a commander calculating angles and rotations. He calls out instructions to Oscar Robertson's replacement, his voice steady despite the roar of the crowd. In this moment, the ghost of his playing days—the man who never missed—fades into the memory of the coach who finally brought home the ultimate prize for the franchise he now leads.
Reader's Guide
Sharman was an All-American basketball player at 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 Winter. Sharman played a total of ten seasons for the Celtics, leading the team in scoring for consecutive seasons (1955 to 1959). He won four NBA championships with the Celtics.
Did You Know?
- Sharman was born on May 25, 1926, in Abilene, Texas, and grew up in Lomita, California.
- He served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1946 during World War II.
- Sharman also played professional baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league system from 1950 to 1955, with a lifetime .281 batting average.
- He was drafted by the Washington Capitols in the second round of the 1950 NBA draft and later joined the Boston Celtics in 1951.
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