Player profile · BOS

Tom Heinsohn

Tom Heinsohn stats, teams and career impact

#133 all-timeCareer averages · 18.6 PPG · 8.8 RPG · 2.0 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Position: Power forward
Final NBA team: Boston Celtics
Height / weight: 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) · 218 lb (99 kg)
Born: August 26, 1934
Died: November 9, 2020 (86 yrs old)
College: Holy Cross
NBA seasons: 9 seasons · 1956–57 to 1964–65

Career or season view

Career summaryTom Heinsohn was a power forward who played 9 NBA seasons, from 1956–57 through 1964–65.

Career PPG: 18.6
Career RPG: 8.8
Career APG: 2.0; #14 in 1961–62; #133 all-time

Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Career overview

Why Tom Heinsohn ranks #133 all time

Tom Heinsohn ranks #133 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #15.3. His full-career value ranks #261, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.

Peak#14 in 1961–62

Best league finish

Sustained excellence9 ranked seasons

450+ minutes required per season

Career breadth9 seasons

654 games · Career Value Rank #261

NBA honors6× All-Star · 4× All-NBA · ROYContext only; honors are not model inputs.

Head to head

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Suggested comparisons, not a ranking of search traffic.

Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources

Full team history

Teams: Boston Celtics
Greatest Celtics →

Career shooting

NBA regular season

Field goal: 40.5%FG%
Three-point: —3P%
Free throw: 79.0%FT%

654 career games · 19,254 minutes

Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.

Traditional box score

Tom Heinsohn stats by season

Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.

Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →


1964–65	13.6	6.0	2.3	+0.02	BOS	67	0	25.5	38.3%	—	79.5%	#33	88.6
1963–64	16.5	6.1	2.4	+0.86	BOS	76	0	26.8	39.8%	—	82.7%	#17	152.0
1962–63	18.9	7.5	1.3	+0.83	BOS	76	0	26.4	42.3%	—	83.5%	#19	150.5
1961–62	22.1	9.5	2.1	+1.90	BOS	79	0	30.2	42.9%	—	81.9%	#14	253.0
1960–61	21.3	9.9	1.9	+1.10	BOS	74	0	30.5	40.0%	—	76.7%	#16	196.1
1959–60	21.7	10.6	2.3	+1.51	BOS	75	0	32.3	42.3%	—	73.3%	#16	240.9
1958–59	18.8	9.7	2.5	+1.18	BOS	66	0	31.7	39.0%	—	79.8%	#17	178.4
1957–58	17.8	10.2	1.8	+0.61	BOS	69	0	32.0	38.2%	—	74.6%	#21	149.9
1956–57	16.2	9.8	1.6	+0.94	BOS	72	0	29.9	39.7%	—	79.0%	#19	155.2
Career	18.6	8.8	2.0	—	BOS	654	—	29.4	40.5%	—	79.0%	—	—

Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

Film evidence

Tom Heinsohn highlights

Watch the selected footage or film analysis, then use the season record and impact data to put what happened on the floor in context.

Career retrospective

Tom Heinsohn career retrospective

The league's retrospective supplies early-era footage of Heinsohn's running, rebounding and scoring role in Boston's first championship teams.

What these measures mean

Era-centered box impact: Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average.
Impact Rate Rank: The player's place among qualified players in one season.
Value contribution / Season Value: Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
Career Impact Rank: An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.

Career Impact Rank#133

17.5 composite · lower is better

Best 5#136

16.0 average league finish

Career Value Rank#261

1,565 total value

Career standing

How Tom Heinsohn ranks all time

These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.

Number-one seasons0

Best in the league

Top-five seasons0

Elite finishes

Top-ten seasons0

Upper-tier finishes

Top-10 Impact Margin0.0

Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons

Career Composite Score17.5

Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.

Best 3 effective weight: 74%
Missing-season finish: —
Qualified seasons: 9
All-time rank: #133

Strongest seasons

Every season

Tom Heinsohn advanced stats by season

Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.

More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage


1964–65Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	30	67	1,706	+0.02	64.0	#33	88.6	62nd	Modeled
1963–64Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	29	76	2,040	+0.86	82.6	#17	152.0	82nd	Modeled
1962–63Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	28	76	2,004	+0.83	80.2	#19	150.5	77th	Modeled
1961–62Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	27	79	2,383	+1.90	84.9	#14	253.0	84th	Modeled
1960–61Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	26	74	2,256	+1.10	81.0	#16	196.1	77th	Modeled
1959–60Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	25	75	2,420	+1.51	80.8	#16	240.9	85th	Modeled
1958–59Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	24	66	2,089	+1.18	80.0	#17	178.4	83rd	Modeled
1957–58Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	23	69	2,206	+0.61	73.7	#21	149.9	75th	Modeled
1956–57Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	22	72	2,150	+0.94	77.2	#19	155.2	84th	Modeled

Career movement

Tom Heinsohn's career impact by season

Peak +1.90 in 1961–62 · 9 seasons · 19,254 minutes

The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. The vertical scale adapts to this player's range and always includes zero.

Era-centered box impactMinutesModeled estimate

Player-specific impact scaleWorkload

Career comparison

Compare the shape, not the calendar

Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.

Compare with a similar careerOpen full comparison →

Tom HeinsohnRay Scott

Era-centered box impactEstimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average · dashed marker means the player did not play

Tom Heinsohn and Ray Scott era-centered impact values by NBA season number
NBA season	Tom Heinsohn	Ray Scott
1	0.9	-0.6
2	0.6	0.1
3	1.2	1.2
4	1.5	0.6
5	1.1	1.9
6	1.9	-0.1
7	0.8	0.7
8	0.9	0.3
9	0.0	0.3

NBA season number

Similar career arcs

Players with careers similar to Tom Heinsohn

The career-similarity score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and experience-aligned trajectory. It describes career shape, not playing style, equal ability, or probability.

PF · All-Time Career #164

Ray Scott

career similarity score

96/100 closest-season score · 1961–62 ↔ 1965–66 PF · All-Time Career #160

Gus Johnson

career similarity score

92/100 closest-season score · 1961–62 ↔ 1966–67 PF · All-Time Career #123

Vern Mikkelsen

career similarity score

93/100 closest-season score · 1961–62 ↔ 1957–58

How to read this page

Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →