Now Sharman was a great TWO SPORT player having been with the Brooklyn Dodgers before Red Auerbach eventually signed him for the Celts.
Red knew of Bill from his college days in California and knew what a great shooter he was. "He was also a great defensive player but nobody paid any attention to that...except me," said the Redhead who was in the process of building the greatest pro sports dynasty in history.
Since the Dodgers were loaded with great, hall-of-fame players Sharman, who was a top notch player himself, figured the $20,000 Red was paying for him was too good to pass up. One of the early benefits Auerbach got from signing Sharman was some inside information on a great 6'9" center from Washington who was a great all-around athlete, named Gene Conley. Red, in a special draft in 1953, picked Conley in the ELEVENTH round. That happened because nobody had ever heard of Big Gene except Sharman who played against him in college. Conley had already been drafted by the Boston Braves and was a standout pitcher for them, eventually being part of a world series championship against the New York Yankees in 1957. Having a growing family and in need of a larger paycheck Conley decided he wanted to play TWO pro sports and went to Auerbach to play in the 1958-59 season. Red agreed to give him a tryout but told Gene he had to pay his own way to Boston. The rest is history. Conley was on three consecutive world championship teams ('59, 60 and 61) thus becoming the ONLY PLAYER IN HISTORY TO WIN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN TWO PRO SPORTS.
"That's a very nice distinction to have," said the ever modest Conley, But Bill Sharman could very well have done the same thing if he had stayed with the old Brooklyn Dodgers (who won the world series in 1955). He was that good but, ever the perfectionist, he decided that, since the two seasons overlapped, he'd just try to be the best basketball player he could be. And of course he succeeded.
Togo Palazzi, a Celtics' first round pick in 1954 after a legendary career at Holy Cross, played 3 seasons with Sharman and had the greatest of memories of Bill. "Everyone knew about his eagle eye on the court and his record shattering free throw percentages but he was also one of the greatest defensive players of his time. He just constantly worked on EVERY part of his game because he would only settle for being a winner and the best he (and his team) could be.
"A little remembered story about Bill, and something that changed the history of the NBA forever," said Togo, is that he organized a tour of all the big west coast cities between the Celtics and a group of top pro players from the NBA. Celtics owner, Walter Brown was not happy about it but all the Celtics, with the exception of Bob Cousy and Red Auerbach, (probably out of respect to Walter) did participate. I, and probably all the other players, did it for the money, which was only a few hundred bucks but, that was a lot back then and we all had growing families to support. And we all trusted Bill who was one of the most astute businessmen and organizers in the world.
Cities Sharman arranged to play at, like L.A., San Francisco, Phoenix, Seattle, Utah, etc. all became NBA cities which wouldn't have happened for several more years if not for the foresight of Sharman.
He offered me a job coaching the San Diego team for $25,000, which was a lot of money back then, but I had routes in the Framingham/Worcester area and turned it down, reluctantly. Bill Sharman was a great player, coach and general manager as well as a great friend and will be fondly remembered by everyone he ever knew, friends and fans alike."