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 won eight NBA championships and is tied for third for the most NBA championships. He is also one of three NBA players with an unsurpassed 8–0 record in NBA Finals series.^[1] After his playing retirement, he served as a head coach for the Harvard Crimson men's basketball team and the Boston Celtics. Sanders was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2011.

Satch Sanders

Sanders in 2013
Personal information
Born	(1938-11-08) November 8, 1938 (age 86) New York City, New York, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Seward Park (New York City, New York)
College	NYU (1957–1960)
NBA draft	1960: 1st round, 8th overall pick
Drafted by	Boston Celtics
Playing career	1960–1973
Position	Power forward
Number	16
Coaching career	1973–1978
Career history
As a player:
1960–1973	Boston Celtics
As a coach:
1973–1977	Harvard
1977–1978	Boston Celtics (assistant)
1978	Boston Celtics
Career highlights
8× NBA champion (1961–1966, 1968, 1969) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1969) No. 16 retired by Boston Celtics Third-team All-American – UPI (1960) Haggerty Award (1960)
Career playing statistics
Points	8,766 (9.6 ppg)
Rebounds	5,798 (6.3 rpg)
Assists	1,026 (1.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Career coaching record
NBA	23–39 (.371)
College	40–60 (.400)
Record at Basketball Reference
Basketball Hall of Fame

Career

Sanders with Boston mayor John F. Collins in the 1960s

Sanders with the Boston Celtics

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 on March 13, 1962.^[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).

Sanders underwent knee surgery in 1970 after he injured his left knee during the last Celtics game for the regular season.^[3] This immensely affected his ability to play afterwards. He announced he was ending his playing career in 1973. On March 20, 1968, a housing development group formed by Sanders (called the Sanders Associates) received a $996,000 FHA commitment through the Boston Rehabilitation Program (BURP) for the rehabilitation of 83 units in Roxbury, Massachusetts after local community activists (including Mel King) criticized BURP for a lack of sufficient community control and racial equity.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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

Gallery

Photos of Sanders

• 
  Sanders (far right) and Celtics teammate Sam Jones (far left) pose with youth basketball trophy recipients in the 1960s
• 
  Sanders (far right) and his Celtics teammates pose with President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office of the White House in January 1963
• 
  Sanders (back center) watching a November 2022 Boston Celtics game. In the front row are Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; Massachusetts Governor–elect Maura Healey; and diplomatic guests William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales (visiting Boston for the 2022 Earthshot Prize)