1. John Travilla Ramsay was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr Jack".
38 Facts About Jack Ramsay
1. 2.
Jack Ramsay was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio.
3.
John Travilla Jack Ramsay was born on February 21,1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
4.
The family moved outside Philadelphia and Jack Ramsay graduated from Upper Darby High School in 1942.
5.
Strongly encouraged by his mother to attend college, Jack Ramsay entered Saint Joseph's College.
6.
In 1949, Jack Ramsay became the first member of his family to receive a college bachelor's degree.
7.
In 1962, Jack Ramsay obtained his master's degree and in 1963 his doctorate degree in education, both from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
8.
Jack Ramsay played for the Sunbury Mercuries from 1951 to 1955.
9.
Jack Ramsay averaged 14 points in his career playing for the Senators and in Sunbury, Pennsylvania professional team.
10.
Jack Ramsay was selected to the All-EPBL team four times.
11.
Jack Ramsay got the job after accidentally meeting the college's moderator of athletics at a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
12.
Jack Ramsay would remain at St Joseph's through 1966, leading the Hawks to six more Big 5 crowns, five straight seasons of first-place finishes in the Middle Atlantic Conference, ten postseason appearances, and a Final Four stint in 1961.
13.
Jack Ramsay left his coaching job with the Hawks on the doctors' recommendation that he reduce stress.
14.
Jack Ramsay would remain the winningest coach in St Joseph's history until Phil Martelli passed him in 2005.
15.
Jack Ramsay inherited a team that finished each of the first two years of its existence in last place in the Atlantic Division.
16.
That second season in Buffalo had Jack Ramsay leading the Braves to the playoffs, where they pushed the eventual champion Celtics to six games in the conference semifinals.
17.
Jack Ramsay's contract was not renewed on May 3,1976, the day after the Braves were eliminated by the Celtics from the playoffs.
18.
In 1976, Jack Ramsay became the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
19.
When Jack Ramsay arrived, the Blazers had not made the playoffs or compiled a winning season record in their six-year history.
20.
Jack Ramsay benefited from the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, in which the Blazers obtained power forward Maurice Lucas.
21.
Jack Ramsay continued to coach the Blazers until 1986 with general success.
22.
Jack Ramsay coached the Western Conference side in the 1978 All-Star Game.
23.
Jack Ramsay coached the Pacers to their second non-losing record as an NBA team.
24.
However, Jack Ramsay was unable to duplicate that success in later seasons.
25.
When Jack Ramsay left the Pacers, he was second on the all-time wins list for NBA coaches with 864 wins, trailing only Red Auerbach.
26.
When he retired, Jack Ramsay had the most combined college and professional wins of any coach.
27.
In 1992, Jack Ramsay was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
28.
Between 1996 and 2012, Jack Ramsay called 15 NBA Finals for ESPN Radio, serving as the network's top analyst.
29.
Jack Ramsay joined ESPN from the Heat full-time in 2000.
30.
Jack Ramsay married Jean Duffey in 1954 and remained married to her until her death.
31.
Jack Ramsay served in the United States Navy in World War II and was a Navy frogman.
32.
Jack Ramsay continued to be highly physically fit well after his Navy training days and completed triathlons until the age of 70.
33.
Ramsay's son-in-law Jim O'Brien has been the head coach of the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers and The University of Dayton, and grandson Jack O'Brien was the editor-in-chief of humor website Cracked.
34.
Jack Ramsay counted the late David Halberstam and Gay Talese as his friends.
35.
Jack Ramsay had a pair of concussions in his playing career; one happened while playing a college game in 1948, the second in 1954 during an Eastern League game.
36.
Jack Ramsay had another bout with the disease in his later years.
37.
On May 10,2013, Jack Ramsay announced that he was again starting cancer treatment, ending his broadcasting career.
38.
Jack Ramsay died of cancer in his sleep the night of April 28,2014.