Rondeau to Hondo

John Havlicek turns 50 today.

I was never a Celtics fan until Bird came along, but I admired Havlicek. He was the first to give a cachet to the sixth-man role, and never complained about coming off the bench.

He could run all day and never break a sweat. I saw this firsthand, when I was a counselor at Red Auerbach's summer camp and played in a pickup game with him. (Jo Jo White was another horse of this stripe.)

When I tell people how Havlicek played a whole game in the playoffs in 1973 without the use of his right (shooting) arm and scored over 20 points, I have to wonder if I'm even remembering it right -- but there it is, a matter of record (I looked it up).

And he had one of the great sports nicknames ever.

Happy birthday, Hondo.