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Satch Sanders
Thomas Satch Sanders at NEBBHOF.jpg
Sanders in 2013
Personal information
Born (1938-11-08) November 8, 1938 (age 86)
New York City, New York, U.S.
High school Seward Park
(New York City, New York)
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
College NYU (1957–1960)
NBA Draft 1960 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Pro career 1960–1973
Coaching career 1973–1978
Career history
As player:
1960–1973 Boston Celtics
As coach:
1973–1977 Harvard
1977–1978 Boston Celtics (assistant)
1978 Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
  • 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 statistics
Points 8,766 (9.6 ppg)
Rebounds 5,798 (6.3 rpg)
Assists 1,026 (1.1 apg)

Thomas Ernest "Satch" Sanders (born November 8, 1938) is a famous American former professional basketball player and coach. He played his entire career as a power forward for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Sanders won an amazing eight NBA championships. He is tied for third place for the most NBA championships ever. He is also one of only three NBA players who won all 8 of their NBA Finals series without losing any. After he stopped playing, he became a head coach for the Harvard Crimson men's basketball team and later for the Boston Celtics. In 2011, Sanders was honored by being added to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Satch Sanders' Basketball Journey

Satch Sander with Boston mayor John F. Collins
Sanders with Boston mayor John F. Collins in the 1960s
Tom sanders celtics
Sanders with the Boston Celtics

Satch Sanders was a great college player at New York University. After college, he joined the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played all 13 years of his professional career with the Celtics.

On March 13, 1962, he had an amazing game. He scored 30 points and grabbed 26 rebounds. This helped the Celtics win 142–110 against the Syracuse Nationals. Sanders was a key part of the Celtics teams that won eight championships. These wins happened in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969. Only his teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones have won more championship rings. Other teammates like John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, and K. C. Jones also won eight rings.

In 1970, Sanders had knee surgery after hurting his left knee. This injury made it harder for him to play as well as before. He decided to end his playing career in 1973. After his playing days, Sanders also helped his community. He formed a group called Sanders Associates. This group worked to improve homes in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Coaching and Beyond

After retiring as a player, Sanders became a basketball coach. He coached at Harvard University until 1977. He was the first African-American person to be a head coach for any sport in the Ivy League. In 1978, Sanders became the head coach of the Boston Celtics. He took over from his former teammate Tommy Heinsohn. Sanders coached the Celtics for a short time. He was later replaced by Dave Cowens, who became a player-coach.

In 1986, Sanders started an important program. It was called the Rookie Transition Program. This program was the first of its kind in any major American sport. It helps new players learn how to be successful both on and off the court.

NBA Career Stats

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

Regular Season Performance

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

Playoff Performance

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

Images for kids

Photos of Sanders

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tom Sanders para niños

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