Rick Weitzman

Rick Weitzman
Personal information
Born (1946-04-30) April 30, 1946 (age 78)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolBrookline
(Brookline, Massachusetts)
CollegeNortheastern (1964–1967)
NBA draft1967: 10th round, 110th overall pick
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1967–1968
PositionShooting guard
Number26
Career history
1967–1968Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Richard L. Weitzman (born April 30, 1946) is an American former basketball player, scout, coach, and color commentator. He was a member of the Boston Celtics team that won the 1968 NBA Finals.

Biography

Weitzman played high school basketball in Brookline, Massachusetts, then played college basketball for the Northeastern Huskies. He also played in the 1966 Pan American Maccabiah Games in Brazil, with Barry Liebowitz, Dave Newmark and Mark Turenshine, among others.[1] He was selected by the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1967 NBA draft.

A 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) shooting guard, Weitzman played one season (1967–68) in the NBA as a member of the Celtics. He averaged 1.3 points per game and won a championship ring when the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1968 NBA Finals. He scored the final two points in the sixth and final game of the championship series against the Lakers.[2][3]

After being released by the Celtics, Weitzman later played about 20 games for the New Haven Elms of the Eastern Professional Basketball League during the 1968–69 season, and played for the North End team in the Boston Neighborhood Basketball Association (BNBA).[4]

Weitzman went on to teach English at Peabody High School in Massachusetts for 13 years, and coached the school's basketball team during the 1970s.[5][6] He spent two years as a color commentator for Celtics radio broadcasts in the early 1980s, working with Johnny Most.[5][7][8] He also worked as a scout for the Celtics,[5] where he spent 13 years and became the team's head scout, until being dismissed in 1997 when Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and general manager.[9] Weitzman later had personnel roles with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Bobcats.[10] One of his final jobs before retiring was serving as an assistant basketball coach for the UMass Boston Beacons.[3]

Weitzman has been inducted to the athletic halls of fame at Brookline and Peabody high schools and Northeastern University.[3] He and his wife, Carol, have two daughters.[3]

Career statistics

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
 †  Won an NBA championship

NBA

Source[11]

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1967–68† Boston 25 3.0 .261 .692 .4 .3 1.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1968† Boston 3 1.7 .667 – .3 .3 1.3

References

  1. ^ "Maccabiah Games in Brazil Aug. 23". The Detroit Jewish News. August 12, 1966.
  2. ^ "1968 NBA Finals Game 6: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, May 2, 1968". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Pave, Marvin (June 6, 2021). "Catching up with Rick Weitzman". The Boston Globe. p. B8. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Griffith, Bill (July 30, 1969). "Weitzman, O'Malley Ponder Pro Moves". The Boston Globe. p. 37. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Where the back-to-backers are". The Boston Globe. June 16, 1987. p. 83. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Concannon, Joe (October 22, 1970). "Colleges (column)". The Boston Globe. p. 27. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Kinsley, Bob (August 15, 1980). "Sports Log (column)". The Boston Globe. p. 48. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Klein, Mandell cited by B'nai B'rith lodge". The Boston Globe. May 31, 1983. p. 59. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Changing o' the Green". The Boston Globe. May 8, 1997. p. D1. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ May, Peter (November 7, 2004). "Pro basketball notes". The Boston Globe. p. E12. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Rick Weitzman NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 29, 2024.

Further reading