SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Early in Jo Jo White's NBA career, he often found himself matched up with Earl Monroe when the Boston Celtics battled the New York Knicks. This didn't sit well with White, who wondered aloud to his coach, Tommy Heinsohn, why he wasn't defending Knicks All-Star point guard Walt Frazier instead.

"[White] came up to me and said, 'Tommy, why won't you let me play Frazier?' Immediately I knew we were going to win some games," Heinsohn said. "Because Frazier was considered to be the best dresser in the league and Jo Jo thought he was. This was a matchup made in heaven."

It took far longer than Heinsohn would have preferred, but White added the one missing accessory to his closet on Thursday when he received his Hall of Fame suit jacket on the eve of his formal induction with the Class of 2015.

The 68-year-old White, five years removed from life-threatening surgery to remove a brain tumor, stole the show at the annual enshrinement news conference with a heartfelt speech in which he professed his passion for the game of basketball and displayed sincere gratitude for his call to the Hall, regardless of how belated it may seem.

"I am so honored to be here. I only wish my mother and father were here," said White, whose recovery from surgery forced him to relearn basic activities such as walking and talking. He spoke deliberately Thursday, often pausing to both find the right words and soak up the moment.

"I absolutely adored playing this game," White added. "I'm so proud to be right here."

White, a seven-time All-Star and a two-time NBA champion who averaged 17.2 points, 4.9 assists and four rebounds over 12 NBA seasons, has had a vocal army of supporters for his Hall induction, including John Havlicek, who along with fellow former teammate Dave Cowens, will present White at Friday's induction ceremony at nearby Symphony Hall.

Heinsohn, another member of this year's class being elected as a coach almost half a century after hanging up his whistle, had likewise stumped for White.

"I've been a big champion of [White]. He should have been in a long time ago," Heinsohn said. "He was a significant player on a very successful [two-time championship team].

"I can still remember him, after the triple-overtime game [in the 1976 NBA Finals] where he played 58 minutes [of a possible 63], unable to get off the [locker room] floor after the game was over. He truly loved the game. And a lot of people took him for granted. He's one of those guys on the Celtics that was a terrific, terrific player."

Jo Jo White was a seven-time All-Star and a two-time NBA champion who averaged 17.2 points, 4.9 assists, and four rebounds per game over 12 NBA seasons. Rogers Photo Archive/Getty Images

White, still looking dapper in skinny black pants that matched his new suit jacket, and stylish black/gray sneakers, beamed throughout the ceremony. After waiting more than three decades for this moment, he savored his brief stint at the podium while being the last of 11 inductees to speak.

"My wife [Deborah] is telling me to sit down," White said to laughter and applause. He waited another moment before adding, "I'm going to take her advice," which drew a standing ovation from the crowd and fellow inductees.

Asked after the conference about finally earning his induction this year, White expressed no bitterness.

"I didn't play the game for [individual honors]," White said. "I don't make those decisions. To see them finally get to you, it's like, 'Oh, you're in now.' I don't make those decisions."

Especially after what he endured with his health, White appeared delighted to finally take his place next to many of his teammates from an underappreciated era of Celtics basketball, one that was tucked between the Bill Russell and Larry Bird regimes. Tugging at the Hall of Fame seal on his breast pocket, White smiled and added, "Now you know. Now you know."

White is big on the concept of team. He said he believes NBA players today care too much about individual stats and accomplishments. He praised the Celtics teams of the 1970s for their selfless nature and believes that, combined with Heinsohn's up-tempo/small-ball philosophies, helped his teams maintain Boston's winning tradition.

White, who was also drafted by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and MLB's Cincinnati Reds, was the ninth overall pick of the Celtics in the 1969 draft -- the team's first pick in the post-Russell era. White was asked about the tale that Russell once told him he might have stuck around if Russell had known the type of player White would become.

"Abso-[expletive]-lutely," White answered with a smile.

Some other highlights from Thursday's news conference:

• Referee Dick Bavetta joked, "It's an uneasy feeling to be up here with coaches and players who are saying nice things to me. I'm not used to that." Taking the podium soon after, John Calipari turned to Bavetta and deadpanned, "It's uncomfortable to be hugged by an official, too." Not one to miss out on the opportunity to also jab an official, Heinsohn later added, "I can honestly say that Dick Bavetta missed every single call in my games that he refereed."

• Louie Dampier, elected by the ABA committee after playing all nine seasons in the league's existence, closed his speech by noting, "There might be a lot of players who were better than I was, but I am in. And I am going to accept it."

• Dikembe Mutombo started finger wagging as soon as he stepped on stage and Spencer Haywood soon joined in the fun. Mutombo encouraged children to think big. "When young people dream, you have no idea how far that dream will take you."