The idea of a sixth man is old hat today. Lots of teams now have a versatile guy who could easily be a starter but who strategically comes off the bench. This is one of the many innovations of Red Auerbach and the Boston Celtics.
The guy who Auerbach turned to to start that whole idea was 6-3 [Frank Ramsey.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsm1xF816qU&list=PLjcHdvjMxsv41a4Sam1nzUe1zZ662tab5&index=26)
In this video, Ramsey says it wasn’t really planned; it just sort of evolved. He came in for Tom Heinsohn because Heinsohn was a heavy smoker and couldn’t play that long before he needed a rest.
As it turned out, he was faster than the forwards and stronger than the guards. He drove a lot of people crazy. Russell (we think) told a story about how Ramsey would run under Nate Thurmond - as in under his feet - when he took a jumpshot. It’s an amazing idea any way you look at it. First, a 6-11 man who got that far off the floor, second a 6-3 guy who is agile and instinctive enough to actually go under him, third, that they never collided and fourth, how much would it mess with you, as a shooter, to know someone is running _beneath_ you?
It’s a completely insane thing to do, but Ramsey was an unusual talent in many ways.
For those of you who prefer the embedded link, we couldn’t get it to work.