Five facts about Bill Sharman (1926--2013)

1 Sharman, who died last Friday at 87, is one of three men—John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens are the others—to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and a coach.

2 As coach of the Warriors in 1966, he invented the morning shootaround, the pregame staple that is the bane of the NBA's lazier players.

3 He led the Lakers on a 33-game winning streak in 1971--72, a run that began three weeks into his first season with the team and immediately after the retirement of star Elgin Baylor.

4 As a Celtics guard he had a stroke so pure that in 1958, SI ran a story titled The Perfect Free Throw with a step-by-step illustration of his shot.

5 He was on the Brooklyn Dodgers' bench for the Shot Heard 'Round the World. He never appeared in a game—but he was kicked out of one in '51, when the Bums' entire bench was run.

PHOTO

BETTMANN/CORBIS (SHARMAN)