Buried within this Massachusetts Live article about Jared Sullinger attending Evan Turner's Feb. 16 jersey ceremony, in which Sullinger describes Turner as a "brother" and E.T. describes Buckeye legend John Havlicek as "big as shit," is a rare quote from Turner that doesn't center on himself:
"You want to know somebody that nobody ever talks about? He played for the Celtics. Larry Siegfried. He was number 21. He won a championship, he was a second team All-American, and he won five (NBA) championships. And they never talk about him. I'm probably going to shout him out."
The late Larry Siegfried, the pride of Shelby, Ohio, also wore No. 21 at Ohio State, where he was the James Worthy to Jerry Lucas' Magic Johnson and John Havlicek's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the 1960 national championship team.
When the 1961 tournament ended in title heartbreak to Cincinnati, Siegfried, the lone captain of the team, refused to sign draft papers with the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. He instead played for George Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers in the American Basketball League before trying out for the Atlanta Hawks. When he didn't make the Hawks, he spent the 1962 season as a high school teacher.
Siegfried eventually caught on with Boston Celtics, where he was a utility man capable of starting or coming off the bench, who would have dominated in PER, had it existed in the sixties. He ran with the likes of Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones—and yes, John Havlicek—during five ('64, '65, '66, '68, '69 [nice]) of that dynasty's 11 titles.
It's probably because of his running mates that Siegfried does not get the props Evan Turner feels he deserves. But not on this day.
Today, Feb. 10, 2016, let us remember Larry Siegfried, a legendary Buckeye indeed.
