Born to Jewish parents in New York City, he was named after his paternal grandfather, the German-American anarchist newspaper editor and orator Johann Most. Johnny Most was one of the many successful graduates of DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. After distinguished Air Force service in World War II, he began his basketball broadcasting career in the late 1940s as a protégé of New York Knickerbockers announcer Marty Glickman. He was hired in 1953 by Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown and coach Red Auerbach to replace Curt Gowdy as the team's radio play-by-play man on the Celtics radio network. He also served as sports director for WCOP radio in Boston at that time. In addition to his work with the Celtics, he served as host of a rudimentary Boston Red Sox baseball post-game show on WHDH-TV, sister station to WHDH radio which carried Celtics games. Sponsored by Wheaties and Blackstone cigars, this short scoreboard program consisted of Most reading the scores and rattling off pitching changes and home runs. It began in 1958 and ended when WHDH-TV lost its license just before the 1972 season and the telecasts were moved to WBZ-TV. Most also teamed with Marty Glickman to call New York Giants football in the early 1950s. In the early 1970s, Most hosted an evening sports talk show on WORL radio which lasted from 5 to 7 PM. WBZ, owner of the Celtics' radio rights, allowed Most to appear only on the first hour of the program, which was broadcast live from a Boston nightspot, so as not to compete with WBZ's Calling All Sports broadcast.
World War II
As an aerial gunner on a B-24 Liberator he flew 28 combat missions with the 15th Air Force in World War II, earning seven medals. Shortly after VE Day, as his unit broke camp in central Italy, Johnny wandered up a nearby hillside to a graveyard filled with American flags, his final visit to fallen comrades before returning home to the Bronx. A prolific poet, he penned these lines:
I stood among the graves today and swept the scene with sight. And the corps of men who lay beneath looked up to say good night. The thunder still, the battle done, the fray has passed them by; And as they rest forever more, they must be asking, 'Why?'
Commentating style
Most always referred to his perch or radio booth at the Boston Garden as "high above courtside" at the opening of his broadcasts, and to his usual perch near the scorer's table on most Celtics road games as "directly at courtside". Unlike his long-time contemporary Chick Hearn, who criticized his Los Angeles Lakers when he felt warranted, Most was an outspoken "homer" who rarely criticized the Celtics during game play but wasn't shy about criticizing other teams' players or fans. For example, during the 1985 season, he nicknamed Laker star point guard Magic Johnson "Crybaby Johnson" after Johnson successfully challenged a referee's call. He called Magic this negative nickname throughout the remainder of the 1980s, announcing lines like "Cry with the no-look pass!" and "Crybaby with the rebound!" He also nicknamed Washington Bullets players Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland as "McFilthy" and "McNasty", interchanging the two at his whim, and he also referred to Philadelphia 76ers players Steve Mix, Bobby Jones and Andrew Toney as "The Hatchet Brothers". Most was also very critical of the Detroit Pistons for their physical play during the late 1980s. He was particularly hard onBill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn and Isiah Thomas, whom he referred to as Little Lord Fauntleroy.
