Havlicek played college basketball at Ohio State University with future seven-time NBA All-Star Jerry Lucas, who was his roommate, future first-round NBA draft pick Larry Siegfried, future coaching legend Bobby Knight, and Mel Nowell, among many others. The 1960 Ohio State Buckeyes, coached by head coach Fred Taylor and assistant coaches Jack Graf and Frank Truitt, won the 1960 NCAA title. Havlicek was named as an alternate of the 1960 United States national team that competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Havlicek was drafted by both the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League in 1962. After competing briefly as a wide receiver in the Browns’ training camp that year, he focused his energies on playing for the Celtics, with head coach Red Auerbach later describing him as the “guts of the team.” He was also known for his stamina, with competitors saying that it was a challenge just to keep up with him.

He met his wife Beth while both were attending The Ohio State University. The couple were married in 1967. They had two children, a son Chris and daughter Jill. Chris attended the University of Virginia on a basketball scholarship in the early 1990s. Jill married former Major League Baseball outfielder and coach Brian Buchanan.

In 1974, Havlicek received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

A 13-time NBA All-Star, Havlicek retired in 1978 and his number 17 jersey was immediately retired by the Celtics. At the time of his retirement, Havlicek was the NBA career leader in games played (surpassed in 1984 by Elvin Hayes and now held by Robert Parish) and third in points behind Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson. Havlicek also retired as the career leader in field goal attempts (later surpassed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and missed field goals (later surpassed by Kobe Bryant). Havlicek is now 30th, 16th, 6th and 2nd, respectively, in those stats.

In 1984, Havlicek became a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, by a panel of journalists, players, coaches, executives, and general managers. He was also named the 14th best player of all-time in Bill Simmons’s Book of Basketball.

The Bridgeport High School Gymnasium was renamed the “John J. Havlicek Gymnasium” in January 2007. He shares the honor with National High School Hall of Fame member Frank Baxter, a longtime coach at Bridgeport High School. The court is named after Baxter.

Havlicek had Parkinson’s disease during his last years. He died on April 25, 2019, in Jupiter, Florida, seventeen days after his 79th birthday.