John Havlicek, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and Boston Celtics legend who helped the team win eight NBA championships, passed away in Jupiter, Florida at the age of 79 on Thursday, announced the Celtics.

His cause of death is not clear yet, but The Boston Globe reported he had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for three years.

"John Havlicek is one of the most accomplished players in Boston Celtics history, and the face of many of the franchise's signature moments. He was a champion in every sense, and as we join his family, friends, and fans in mourning his loss, we are thankful for all the joy and inspiration he brought to us," said the Celtics in a statement.

He won eight NBA championships, one FMVP, played 13 All-Star Games and led in games played (1,270) and points scored (26,395) in the history of the Celtics. He also had the NBA's most field goals with 13,417 before being surpassed by Kobe Bryant. Havlicek's No.17 jersey was retired by Boston in 1978, the same year he retired. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984 and named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1996.

The most well-known moment in Havlicek's career happened in Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference finals against the 76ers. With only five seconds to go in the fourth quarter, the Celtics led 110-109. Hall of Fame guard Hal Greer of the 76ers standing under their rim first tried to pass the ball to Wilt Chamberlain but Bill Russell took away that option with his defense. Then Greer threw the ball to Chet Walker but it got intercepted by Havlicek, leading to the victory of the Celtics.

"Greer is putting the ball into play. He gets it out deep. Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!" shouted Johnny Most, the commentator of the game.

Nonetheless, his story is way more interesting than that.

Havlicek was selected by the Celtics with the seventh pick in the 1962 NBA Draft and his first four seasons all ended with the championship being won alongside the immortal Bill Russell. In his second year, the 23-year-old played 32 minutes on average per game (the second most in Boston) and scored 19.9 points (the most of the team), as substitute for Tommy Heinsohn and one of the NBA's earliest "Sixth Men" after his teammate Frank Ramsey.

In 1974, 34-year-old Havlicek led the Celtics back to the NBA Finals, the first time since Russell retired. In Game 7, he and Dave Cowens sealed the win for Boston in Q4, defeating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his Milwaukee Bucks, winning his seventh ring.

Two years later in 1976, Havlicek had to start from the bench in the finals against the Suns because of his ankle injury. However, after he stepped onto the court in the seventh minute, he never returned to the bench and got 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Then in the legendary Game 5, the Celtics and the Suns played three overtimes while 36-year-old Havlicek, in the 58 minutes he played, put down 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead Boston win the game 128-126 before they took Game 6 and pocketed his eighth ring.

Havlicek was rarely talked about along with other legends like Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Rick Rarry or Elgin Baylor because he's good at, but not the best, in everything he did. During his whole career, the thing you saw most in Havlicek's game was that he's always running and making offensive plays.

Bill Russell wrote on Twitter: "It is getting difficult each time I hear about another contemporary that passes! What is harder is when we lose guys like John Havlicek, he was not just a teammate & a great guy, but he was family. That is how our Celtics teams were. Rest in peace Hondo (Havlicek's nick name)."

As his career rival, Jerry West said: "The thing with John, he competed against you at the highest level and he wanted to win badly. But he was always a really nice person. I don't think that I ever heard anyone say a bad word about John."