Satch: The Celtics Iron Man May Stay for a Long While

When Tom Sanders came up to the Celtics in 1959, few people would have given him much of a chance of sticking with the NBA champions, let alone stringing together an outstanding 13-year career. Sanders was a gangling, bespectacled kid who refused to go on the floor unless he was wearing both knee and elbow pads. Nobody saw too much in the skinny kid from NYU.

Nobody, that is, except Celtic coach and general manager Arnold "Red" Auerbach, who felt that the green rookie could become a vital part of Auerbach's championship aspirations. Auerbach saw something in Sanders that everybody else obviously overlooked.

The rest is history. Tom Sanders went on from this inauspicious beginning to become one of the most tenacious defensive players in the NBA, and a vital cog in the Celtic glory string of championships. In 13 seasons, Sanders played on eight championship teams. Sanders, along with Bill Russell, gave the Celtics the strongest defensive front court in the league.

Sanders invariably drew the opposing team's top scoring forward and earned the reputation as one of basketball's greatest defensive forwards. Sanders's tenacious defensive skills also earned him a line in the record book--for the most disqualifications for fouls, with 26.

Despite his limited service with the Celtics the last two seasons, Sanders ended his career with a 10.1 points-per-game average and ranks in the top 25 in both playoff scoring and rebounding. His 758 playoff rebounds rank him 15th in league history. Sanders scored 1132 points in the playoffs.

Sanders, who holds the Celtics iron-man record with a streak of 459 games, has become a fixture of sorts at Boston's cavernous Garden. But after 13 years, Satch has traded the Garden for Harvard's dingy IAB. And if Sanders's record is any indication, he'll be here quite a while.