Bob Cousy
Encyclopedia
Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy (born August 9, 1928) is a retired American
professional basketball
player. The 6'1" (1.85-m), 175-pound (79.4-kg) Cousy played point guard
with the National Basketball Association
's (NBA) Boston Celtics
from 1951 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals
in the 1969–70 season
. Cousy first demonstrated his basketball abilities while playing for his high school varsity team in his junior
year. He obtained a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross
, where he led the Crusaders to berths in the 1948
and 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
and was named an NCAA All-American for three seasons. Cousy was initially drafted as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1950 NBA Draft
by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks
, but after he refused to report with the Blackhawks, he was picked up by the Boston Celtics. Cousy had a highly successful career with the Celtics, winning six championship rings, being voted into 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA
First and Second Teams and winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award
in 1957.
In his first 11 seasons in the NBA, Cousy led the league in assists
eight consecutive times and introduced a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills, earning him the nicknames "The Cooz," "Houdini
of the Hardwood" and—as he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden
—"Mr. Basketball." After his player career, he coached the Royals for several years, and even made a short comeback for the Royals at age 41. Afterwards, he became a broadcaster for Celtics games. He was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, and in his honor, the Celtics retired his number 14 jersey and hung it into the rafters of the Boston Garden
, where it has remained since. Cousy was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team
in 1971, the NBA 35th Anniversary Team
in 1981, and the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996, making him one of only four players that were selected to each of those teams.
living in New York City. He grew up in the Yorkville
neighborhood of Manhattan
's East Side, in the midst of the Great Depression
. His father, Joseph, was a taxi driver who earned extra income by moonlighting. The elder Cousy had served in the German Army
during World War I. Shortly after the war, his first wife died of pneumonia
, leaving behind a young daughter. The elder Cousy married Julie Corlet, a secretary and French teacher from Dijon
. At the time of the 1930 census, the family rented an apartment in Astoria, Queens
, for $50 per month. The younger Cousy spoke French for the first five years of his life, and only started speaking English when he started primary school
. He spent his early days playing stickball
in a multicultural environment, regularly playing with African Americans, Jews
and other children from ethnic minorities. These experiences ingrained him with a strong anti-racist sentiment, an attitude that Cousy prominently featured during his professional career. When he was 12, his family moved to a rented house in St. Albans
, Queens. That summer, the elder Cousy put a $500 down payment for a $4,500 house four blocks away. He rented the bottom two floors of the three-floor building to tenants, so he could complete his mortgage payments on time.
in St Albans. His basketball success was not immediate, as he was cut from the school team in his freshman year. Later that year, he joined the St. Albans Lindens of the Press League, a basketball league sponsored by the Long Island Press
. He developed his basketball skills and gained much-needed experience. The next year, he was again cut during the tryouts for the school basketball team.
That same year, Cousy fell out of a tree and broke his right hand. It forced him to play left-handed until his hand healed, to a point that he became effectively ambidextrous
. In retrospect, Cousy described this accident as a "fortunate event" and cited it as a factor in him becoming a better player. During a Press League game, the high school basketball coach saw Cousy play. He was impressed by the young man's ability to play with both hands. He invited Cousy to come to practice the following day to see if he could make the junior varsity
team. Cousy performed well, and he became a permanent member of the team. Cousy continued to practice day and night, and by junior year, he was sure he was going to be on the varsity basketball team. However, he failed his citizenship class, and he was ineligible to play during the first semester. Cousy joined the team midway through the year, scoring 28 points in his first game on the varsity squad. He had no intention of attending college, but after he started to make a name for himself on the basketball court, he started to focus on improving his academics and basketball skills to get into college.
In his senior year, Cousy once again excelled on the basketball court. He led his team to the Queens division championship and became the highest scorer in the city. He was even named captain of the Journal-American All-Scholastic team. Cousy began to think of his plans for college. His family had wanted him to attend a Catholic school
, and he wanted to go somewhere outside New York City. Cousy was recruited by Boston College
, and he considered attending the university. However, the university did not have any dormitories
, and Cousy was not interested in living as a commuter student
. Soon after, he received an offer from the College of the Holy Cross
in Worcester, Massachusetts
just 40 miles (64.4 km) outside of Boston. He was impressed by the school, and he accepted a basketball scholarship to attend the school. Cousy spent the summer before college working at Tamarack Lodge in the Catskills
and playing in a local basketball league with a number of college basketball players.
chose to play the six freshmen off the bench in a two-team system, so that each player would get some time on the court. As members of the "second team", they would come off the bench nine and a half minutes into the game, where they would relieve the "first team" starters. They would sometimes get to play between a third or half the game. Cousy was so disappointed with the lack of playing time, that he went to the campus chapel after practice to pray that Julian would give him more of a chance to show off his basketball talents on the court. Early in the season, Cousy got into trouble with Julian, who accused Cousy of being a showboater. In the mid-1940s, basketball was a static game, depending on slow, deliberate player movement and flat-footed shots, different from Cousy's uptempo, streetball
-like game defined by ambidextrous, behind-the-back dribbles, and also by no-look, behind-the-back and half-court passes. Nonetheless, Cousy had enough playing time in games to score 227 points for the season, finishing with the third-highest total on the team. The team, with stars George Kaftan
and Joe Mullaney, finished the 1946–47 basketball season with a 24–3 record.
The team entered the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
as the last seed in the 8-team tournament. In the first match, Holy Cross defeated the United States Naval Academy
in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden
by a score of 55 to 47. Mullaney led the team in scoring with 18 points, due mostly in part to Navy coach Ben Carnevale
's decision to have his players back off from Mullaney, who was reputed as being more of a playmaker than a shooter. In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York
(CCNY), coached by Nat Holman
, one of the game's earliest innovators. The Crusaders, led by Kaftan's 30-point game, easily defeated the Beavers 60–45. In the championship game, Holy Cross faced the University of Oklahoma
, behind coach Bruce Drake
, in another sold-out game at Madison Square Garden. Kaftan followed up the semi-final match with 18 points in the title game, leading the Crusaders to a 58–47 victory against the Sooners. Cousy played poorly, scoring four points on 2-for-13 shooting from the court. Holy Cross became the first college from the New England
area to win a national college basketball title. The team received a hero's welcome when they arrived to a crowd of 10,000 people at Union Station in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The following season, Julian limited Cousy's playing time, to the point that the frustrated sophomore contemplated a transfer. Cousy wrote a letter to basketball coach of St. John's University
in New York, Joe Lapchick
, informing him that he was considering a transfer to the university. Lapchick replied to Cousy, telling him that Julian was "one of the finest basketball coaches in America," and that he was not restricting Cousy's playing time under bad intentions. He told Cousy that Julian would use him more often during his later years with the team. Lapchick wrote that transferring was very risky, and according to NCAA rules, Cousy would have to wait a year before becoming eligible to play on the university basketball team.
Cousy's fate changed in a match against Loyola of Chicago
at the Boston Garden
. With five minutes left to play and Holy Cross trailing, the crowd started to chant "We want Cousy! We want Cousy!" until coach Julian relented. In these few minutes, Cousy scored 11 points
and hit a game-winning buzzer beater
after a behind-the-back dribble. The performance established him on the school team, and he led Holy Cross to 26 consecutive wins and second place in the National Invitation Tournament
(NIT) and became a three-time All-American.
at a time when the local Boston Celtics
had just concluded the 1949–50 NBA season with a poor 22–46 win-loss record and had the first draft pick. It was strongly anticipated that they would draft the highly coveted local favorite Cousy. However, coach Red Auerbach
snubbed him in favour of center
Charlie Share, commenting: "I'm supposed to win, not go after local yokel
s". The local press strongly criticised Auerbach, but other scouts were also skeptical about Cousy, viewing him as being flamboyant but ineffective. One scout wrote in his report: "The first time he tries that fancy Dan stuff in this league, they'll cram the ball down his throat."
As a result, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks drafted Cousy, but the point guard was unenthusiastic about his new employer. Cousy was trying to establish a driving school in Worcester, Massachusetts
and did not want to move into a left field consisting of three small towns of Moline
, Rock Island
and Davenport
. As compensation for having to give up his driving school, Cousy demanded a salary of $10,000 from Blackhawks owner Bob Kerner. When Kerner only offered him $6,000, Cousy refused to report. The latter was then picked up by the Chicago Stags
, but when they folded, league Commissioner Maurice Podoloff
declared three Stags available for a dispersal draft: Stags scoring champion Max Zaslofsky
, Andy Phillip and Cousy. Walter A. Brown
, owner of the Boston Celtics, was one of the three club bosses invited. He later made it clear that he was hoping for Zaslofsky, would have tolerated Phillip, and did not want Cousy. When the Celtics drew Cousy, Brown confessed: "I could have fallen to the floor." Hence, Cousy became a Celtic, with Brown reluctantly giving him a $9,000 salary.
It was not long before both Auerbach and Brown changed their minds. With an average of 15.6 points, 6.9 rebounds
and 4.9 assists a game, Cousy received the first of his 13 consecutive All-NBA Team call-ups, and led a Celtics team with future Hall-of-Famer Ed Macauley
and Bones McKinney
to a 39–30 record in the 1950–51 NBA season. However, in the 1951 NBA Playoffs
, the Celtics were beaten by the New York Knicks
. The next year, the Celtics added future Hall-of-Fame guard Bill Sharman
in the 1951 NBA Draft
, and by averaging 21.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, Cousy earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination. Nonetheless, the Celtics stranded again against the Knicks in the 1952 NBA Playoffs
.
In the following season, Cousy made further progress. Averaging 7.7 assists per game, he won the first of his eight consecutive assists titles. These numbers were made despite the fact that the NBA had not yet introduced the shot clock
, making the game static and putting prolific assist givers at a disadvantage. Powered by Auerbach's quick fastbreak
-dominated tactics, the Celtics won 46 games and beat the Syracuse Nationals
2–0 in the 1953 NBA Playoffs
. The second match ended 111–105 in a four-overtime
thriller, in which Cousy had a much-lauded game. Despite nursing an injured leg, he scored 25 points after four quarters, scored 6 of his team's 9 points in the first overtime, hit a clutch
free throw in the last seconds, and scored all four of the Celtics' points in the second overtime. Cousy scored 8 more points in the third overtime, among them a 25 feet (7.6 m) buzzer beater
. In the fourth overtime, he scored 9 of Boston's 12 points. Cousy ended the game playing 66 minutes, and scoring 50 points after making a still-standing record of 30 free throws in 32 attempts. This game is regarded by the NBA as one of the finest scoring feats ever, in line with Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game
. However, for the third time in a row, the Knicks defeated the Celtics in the next round.
In the next three years, Cousy firmly established himself as one of the best point guards of the league. Leading the league in assists again in all three seasons, and averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds, the versatile Cousy earned himself three further All-NBA First Team and All-Star honors, and was also Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 1954 NBA All-Star Game
. In terms of playing style, Cousy introduced an array of visually attractive street basketball moves, described by the NBA as a mix of ambidextrous, behind-the-back dribbling and "no-look passes, behind-the-back feeds or half-court fastbreak launches". Cousy's modus operandi
contrasted with the rest of the NBA, which was dominated by muscular low post scorers and deliberate flat-footed set shooters. Soon, he was called "Houdini of the Hardwood" after the magician Harry Houdini
. Cousy's crowd-pleasing and effective play drew the crowd into the Boston Garden and also won over coach Auerbach, who no longer saw him as a liability, but as an essential building block for the future.
The Celtics eventually added two talented forwards, namely future Hall-of-Famer Frank Ramsey
and defensive specialist Jim Loscutoff
. Along with Celtics colleague Bob Brannum
, Loscutoff also became Cousy's unofficial bodyguard
, retaliating against opposing players who would try to hurt him. The Celtics were unable to make their mark in the 1954
, 1955
and 1956 NBA Playoffs
, where they lost three times in a row against the Nationals of Hall-of-fame forward Dolph Schayes
. Cousy attributed the shortcomings to fatigue, stating: "We would get tired in the end and could not get the ball". As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive center who could both get easy rebounds, initiate fastbreaks and close out games.
. Powered by these new recruits, the Celtics went 44–28 in the regular season, and Cousy averaged 20.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and a league-leading 7.5 assists, earning his first NBA Most Valuable Player Award
; he also won his second NBA All-Star Game MVP award. The Celtics reached the 1957 NBA Finals
, and powered by Cousy on offense and rugged center Russell on defense, they beat the Hawks 4–3, who were noted for future Hall-of-Fame power forward
Bob Pettit
and former teammates Macauley and Hagan. Cousy finally won his first title.
In the 1957–58 NBA season, Cousy had yet another highly productive year, with his 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game leading to nominations into the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star team. He again led the NBA in assists. The Celtics reached the 1958 NBA Finals
against the Hawks, but when Russell succumbed to a foot injury in Game 3, the Celtics faded and bowed out four games to two. This was the last losing NBA playoff series in which Cousy would play.
In the following 1958–59 NBA season, the Celtics took revenge on their opposition, powered by an inspired Cousy, who averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a league-high 8.6 assists a game, won yet another assists title and another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nominations. Late in the season, Cousy reasserted his playmaking dominance by setting an NBA record with 28 assists in a game against the Minneapolis Lakers. While this record was eventually broken some 19 years later, Cousy's 19 assists in a single half has never been surpassed. The Celtics stormed through the playoffs and, behind Cousy's 51 total assists (still a record for a four-game NBA Finals series), defeated the Minneapolis Lakers in the first 4–0 sweep ever in the NBA Finals
.
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Cousy was again productive, his 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game earning him his eighth consecutive assists title and another joint All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nomination. Again, the Celtics defeated all opposition and won the 1960 NBA Finals
4–3 against the Hawks. A year later
, the 32-year-old Cousy scored 18.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, winning another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star nominations, but failing to win the assists crown after eight consecutive seasons. However, the Celtics won the 1961 NBA Finals
after convincingly beating the Hawks 4–1.
In the 1961–62 NBA season, the aging Cousy slowly began to fade statistically, averaging 15.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and was voted into the All-NBA Second Team after ten consecutive First Team nominations. Still, he enjoyed a satisfying post-season, winning the 1962 NBA Finals
after two closely fought 4–3 battles against two upcoming teams, the Philadelphia Warriors
of Wilt Chamberlain
and then the Los Angeles Lakers
of Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor
and Jerry West
. The Finals series against the Lakers was especially dramatic, because Lakers guard Frank Selvy failed to make a last-second buzzer beater
shot in Game 7 which would have won the Los Angeles the title. Finally, in the last season of his career, Cousy averaged 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists, and collected one last All-Star and All-NBA Second Team nomination. In the 1963 NBA Finals
, the Celtics again won 4–2 against the Lakers, and Cousy finished his career on a high note: in the fourth quarter of Game 6, Cousy sprained an ankle and had to be helped to the bench. He went back in with the Celtics ahead by only a point. Although he did not score again, his was credited with providing an emotional lift that carried the Celtics to victory 112–109. The game ended with Cousy throwing the ball into the rafters.
At age 35, Cousy ended his playing career. The ceremony in a packed Boston Garden
became known as the Boston Tear Party, when the crowd's response overwhelmed Cousy, left him speechless, and caused his planned seven minute farewell to go on for 20. Joe Dillon, a water worker from South Boston, Massachusetts and a devoted Celtics fan screamed "We love ya, Cooz," breaking the tension and the crowd went into cheers. As a testament to Cousy's legacy, President John F. Kennedy
wired to Cousy: "The game bears an indelible stamp of your rare skills and competitive daring."
Basketball Is My Life in 1963, and in the same year, he became coach at Boston College. In his six seasons there, he had a record of 117 wins and 38 losses and was named New England Coach of the Year for 1968 and 1969. Cousy led the Eagles to three NIT appearances including a berth at the 1969 NIT Championship and two National Collegiate Athletic Association
tournaments including a berth at the 1967 Eastern Regional Finals. However, he grew bored with college basketball and made his return to the NBA as coach of the Cincinnati Royals
, team of fellow Hall-of-Fame point guard Oscar Robertson
. He later said about this engagement: "I did it for the money. I was made the offer I couldn't refuse." In 1970, the 41-year-old Cousy even made a late-season comeback as a player to boost ticket sales. Despite his meager output of a cumulative 5 points in 34 minutes of play time in seven games, ticket sales jumped by 77 percent. However, Cousy stepped down as coach early in the 1973–74 NBA season with a mediocre 141–209 record. In later life, Cousy was Commissioner of the American Soccer League
from 1974 to 1979, and he has been a color analyst on Celtics telecasts since the 1980s." In addition, he had a cameo role in the basketball film Blue Chips
in 1993. A memorable scene from the film, in which Cousy played a college athletic director, featured a conversation between Cousy and the team's head coach, played by Nick Nolte
. In one long, unbroken take, Cousy talked with Nolte while sinking foul shot after foul shot, prompting Nolte to say, in an unscripted line, "Don't you ever miss?" Today, he is a marketing consultant for the Celtics, and occasionally makes broadcast appearances with Mike Gorman
and ex-Celtic teammate Tom Heinsohn.
| align="left" |Cincinnati
| align="left" |
|82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |5th in Eastern||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Cincinnati
| align="left" |
|82||33||49||.402|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Cincinnati
| align="left" |
|82||30||52||.366|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha
| align="left" |
|82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha
| align="left" |
|22||6||16||.273|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||350||141||209||.403|| ||—||—||—||—
— the first trade union among those in the four major North American professional sports leagues. Cousy served as its first president until 1958.
In his 13-year, 924-game NBA playing career, Cousy finished with 16,960 points, 4,786 rebounds and 6,955 assists, translating to averages of 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. He was regarded as the first great point guard
of the NBA, winning eight of the first 11 assist titles in the league, all of them en bloc, and had a highly successful career, winning six NBA titles, one MVP award, 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA First and Second Team call-ups and two All-Star MVP awards. With his eye-catching dribbling and unorthodox passing, Cousy popularised modern guard play and raised the profile of the Boston Celtics and the entire NBA. His fast-paced playing style was later emulated by the likes of Pete Maravich
and Magic Johnson
.
In recognition of his feats, Cousy was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and was honored by the Boston Celtics franchise which retired his number 14 jersey. Celtics owner Walter Brown said: "The Celtics wouldn't be here without him [Cousy]. He made basketball in this town. If he had played in New York he would have been the biggest thing since [New York Yankees baseball legend] Babe Ruth
. I think he is anyway." In addition, on May 11, 2006, ESPN
.com rated Cousy as the fifth greatest point guard of all time, lauding him as "ahead of his time with his ballhandling and passing skills" and pointing out he is only one of four point guards ever to win a NBA Most Valuable Player award.
On November 16, 2008 Cousy's college number of 17 was hoisted to the Hart Center rafters. During halftime of a game between the Holy Cross Crusaders and St. Joseph's Hawks, Cousy, George Kaftan
, Togo Palazzi
, and Tommy Heinsohn's numbers became the first to hang from the gymnasium's ceiling.
, and have two daughters.
Cousy was well-known, both on and off the court, for his anti-racist attitude, a result of his upbringing in a multicultural environment. In 1950, the Celtics played a match in the then-segregated city of Charlotte, North Carolina
, and teammate Chuck Cooper — the first African-American in NBA history to be drafted—would have been denied a hotel room. Instead of taking the hotel room, Cousy insisted on travelling with Cooper on an uncomfortable overnight train. He described their visit to a segregated men's toilet—Cooper was prohibited to use the clean "for whites" bathroom and had to use the shabby "for colored" facility—as one of the most shameful experiences of his life. He also sympathized with the plight of black Celtics star Bill Russell
, who was frequently a victim of racism
. In addition, Cousy was close friends with his Celtics mentor Red Auerbach
and was one of the few people who could call him "Arnold" (his real first name) instead of "Red".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player. The 6'1" (1.85-m), 175-pound (79.4-kg) Cousy played point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
with the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's (NBA) Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
from 1951 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
in the 1969–70 season
1969-70 NBA season
The 1969–70 NBA Season was the 24th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
. Cousy first demonstrated his basketball abilities while playing for his high school varsity team in his junior
Eleventh grade
Eleventh Grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Brazil:...
year. He obtained a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
, where he led the Crusaders to berths in the 1948
1948 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....
and 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City, New York...
and was named an NCAA All-American for three seasons. Cousy was initially drafted as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1950 NBA Draft
1950 NBA Draft
The 1950 NBA Draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association . This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950 before the 1950–51 season. In this draft, 12 remaining NBA teams took turns...
by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
, but after he refused to report with the Blackhawks, he was picked up by the Boston Celtics. Cousy had a highly successful career with the Celtics, winning six championship rings, being voted into 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA
All-NBA Team
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The team has been selected in every season of the...
First and Second Teams and winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1955–56 NBA season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement...
in 1957.
In his first 11 seasons in the NBA, Cousy led the league in assists
Assist (basketball)
In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist...
eight consecutive times and introduced a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills, earning him the nicknames "The Cooz," "Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
of the Hardwood" and—as he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
—"Mr. Basketball." After his player career, he coached the Royals for several years, and even made a short comeback for the Royals at age 41. Afterwards, he became a broadcaster for Celtics games. He was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, and in his honor, the Celtics retired his number 14 jersey and hung it into the rafters of the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
, where it has remained since. Cousy was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team
NBA 25th Anniversary Team
The NBA 25th Anniversary Team was announced in 11 December 1971 to celebrate the 25-year existence of BAA/NBA. This team was meant to be an All-NBA Team for that period. Up that time, All-NBA Teams only consisted of 2 teams , so this Team also only consists of 2 teams/10 players...
in 1971, the NBA 35th Anniversary Team
NBA 35th Anniversary Team
The NBA 35th Anniversary Team was announced in 30 October 1980 to celebrated 35th Anniversary of NBA. Unlike its predecessor, the NBA 25th Anniversary Team, that followed the concept of All-NBA Team, this team was more like an NBA All-Star Team that contains the eleven best players in the NBA's 35...
in 1981, and the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996, making him one of only four players that were selected to each of those teams.
Early years
Cousy was born as the only son of poor French immigrantsImmigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
living in New York City. He grew up in the Yorkville
Yorkville, Manhattan
Yorkville is a neighborhood in the greater Upper East Side, in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. Yorkville's boundaries include: the East River on the east, 96th Street on the north, Third Avenue on the west and 72nd Street to the south. However, its southern boundary is a subject of...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's East Side, in the midst of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. His father, Joseph, was a taxi driver who earned extra income by moonlighting. The elder Cousy had served in the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
during World War I. Shortly after the war, his first wife died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, leaving behind a young daughter. The elder Cousy married Julie Corlet, a secretary and French teacher from Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
. At the time of the 1930 census, the family rented an apartment in Astoria, Queens
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
, for $50 per month. The younger Cousy spoke French for the first five years of his life, and only started speaking English when he started primary school
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
. He spent his early days playing stickball
Stickball
Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game, played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensie pinkie, high bouncer or tennis ball. The...
in a multicultural environment, regularly playing with African Americans, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and other children from ethnic minorities. These experiences ingrained him with a strong anti-racist sentiment, an attitude that Cousy prominently featured during his professional career. When he was 12, his family moved to a rented house in St. Albans
St. Albans, Queens
St. Albans is a middle class community in the New York City borough of Queens around the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard, about two miles north of JFK Airport. It is southeast of Jamaica, west of Cambria Heights and north of Springfield Gardens and Laurelton.The neighborhood...
, Queens. That summer, the elder Cousy put a $500 down payment for a $4,500 house four blocks away. He rented the bottom two floors of the three-floor building to tenants, so he could complete his mortgage payments on time.
High school
Cousy took up basketball at the age of 13, as a student at St. Pascal's elementary school, and was "immediately hooked". The following year, he became a student of Andrew Jackson High SchoolAndrew Jackson High School (Queens, New York)
Andrew Jackson High School is a defunct comprehensive high school in the Cambria Heights section in southeastern Queens, New York. The school was opened in 1937. However, the city closed down the school in 1994...
in St Albans. His basketball success was not immediate, as he was cut from the school team in his freshman year. Later that year, he joined the St. Albans Lindens of the Press League, a basketball league sponsored by the Long Island Press
Long Island Press
The Long Island Press is a free newsweekly serving Long Island with extensive coverage of arts and entertainment, sports, and alternative political viewpoints. The newspaper started in 2003 after its parent company, Morey Publishing, bought The Long Island Ear, which was a free bi-monthly...
. He developed his basketball skills and gained much-needed experience. The next year, he was again cut during the tryouts for the school basketball team.
That same year, Cousy fell out of a tree and broke his right hand. It forced him to play left-handed until his hand healed, to a point that he became effectively ambidextrous
Ambidexterity
Ambidexterity is the state of being equally adept in the use of both left and right appendages . It is one of the most famous varieties of cross-dominance. People that are naturally ambidextrous are rare, with only one out of one hundred people being naturally ambidextrous...
. In retrospect, Cousy described this accident as a "fortunate event" and cited it as a factor in him becoming a better player. During a Press League game, the high school basketball coach saw Cousy play. He was impressed by the young man's ability to play with both hands. He invited Cousy to come to practice the following day to see if he could make the junior varsity
Junior varsity
Primarily in North America, junior varsity or JV players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition , usually at the high school and college levels in the United States and Canada. The main players comprise the varsity team...
team. Cousy performed well, and he became a permanent member of the team. Cousy continued to practice day and night, and by junior year, he was sure he was going to be on the varsity basketball team. However, he failed his citizenship class, and he was ineligible to play during the first semester. Cousy joined the team midway through the year, scoring 28 points in his first game on the varsity squad. He had no intention of attending college, but after he started to make a name for himself on the basketball court, he started to focus on improving his academics and basketball skills to get into college.
In his senior year, Cousy once again excelled on the basketball court. He led his team to the Queens division championship and became the highest scorer in the city. He was even named captain of the Journal-American All-Scholastic team. Cousy began to think of his plans for college. His family had wanted him to attend a Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
, and he wanted to go somewhere outside New York City. Cousy was recruited by Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, and he considered attending the university. However, the university did not have any dormitories
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, and Cousy was not interested in living as a commuter student
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
. Soon after, he received an offer from the College of the Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
just 40 miles (64.4 km) outside of Boston. He was impressed by the school, and he accepted a basketball scholarship to attend the school. Cousy spent the summer before college working at Tamarack Lodge in the Catskills
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
and playing in a local basketball league with a number of college basketball players.
College basketball career
Cousy was one of six freshmen on the Holy Cross Crusaders basketball team in 1947. From the start of the season, coach Alvin "Doggie" JulianDoggie Julian
Alvin F. "Doggie" Julian was a well-known college men's basketball coach. After graduating in 1923 from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, he gained legendary status by leading the College of the Holy Cross to the NCAA title in 1947. His team almost repeated this feat in 1948,...
chose to play the six freshmen off the bench in a two-team system, so that each player would get some time on the court. As members of the "second team", they would come off the bench nine and a half minutes into the game, where they would relieve the "first team" starters. They would sometimes get to play between a third or half the game. Cousy was so disappointed with the lack of playing time, that he went to the campus chapel after practice to pray that Julian would give him more of a chance to show off his basketball talents on the court. Early in the season, Cousy got into trouble with Julian, who accused Cousy of being a showboater. In the mid-1940s, basketball was a static game, depending on slow, deliberate player movement and flat-footed shots, different from Cousy's uptempo, streetball
Streetball
Streetball or street basketball is a variation of the sport of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less by way of formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules...
-like game defined by ambidextrous, behind-the-back dribbles, and also by no-look, behind-the-back and half-court passes. Nonetheless, Cousy had enough playing time in games to score 227 points for the season, finishing with the third-highest total on the team. The team, with stars George Kaftan
George Kaftan
George Kaftan is a retired American basketball player.George grew up in New York City and went to Xavier High School in Manhattan before going to Holy Cross for college. Though just 6'3", Kaftan was the starting center for the College of the Holy Cross team that won the 1947 NCAA Basketball...
and Joe Mullaney, finished the 1946–47 basketball season with a 24–3 record.
The team entered the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1947 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....
as the last seed in the 8-team tournament. In the first match, Holy Cross defeated the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
by a score of 55 to 47. Mullaney led the team in scoring with 18 points, due mostly in part to Navy coach Ben Carnevale
Ben Carnevale
Bernard Louis "Ben" Carnevale was an American college men's basketball coach.-Early years:Born in Raritan, New Jersey, Carnevale was a graduate of Somerville High School in Somerville, New Jersey...
's decision to have his players back off from Mullaney, who was reputed as being more of a playmaker than a shooter. In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
(CCNY), coached by Nat Holman
Nat Holman
Nat Holman was one of the early pro basketball players and one of the game's most important innovators.-Career:...
, one of the game's earliest innovators. The Crusaders, led by Kaftan's 30-point game, easily defeated the Beavers 60–45. In the championship game, Holy Cross faced the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, behind coach Bruce Drake
Bruce Drake
Bruce Drake was a college men's basketball coach. The Gentry, Texas native was head coach at the University of Oklahoma between 1938 and 1955, compiling a 200-181 record. He also coached the Air Force team to a 34-14 record in 1956Prior to coaching, he was also a star for Hugh McDermott's Oklahoma...
, in another sold-out game at Madison Square Garden. Kaftan followed up the semi-final match with 18 points in the title game, leading the Crusaders to a 58–47 victory against the Sooners. Cousy played poorly, scoring four points on 2-for-13 shooting from the court. Holy Cross became the first college from the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
area to win a national college basketball title. The team received a hero's welcome when they arrived to a crowd of 10,000 people at Union Station in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The following season, Julian limited Cousy's playing time, to the point that the frustrated sophomore contemplated a transfer. Cousy wrote a letter to basketball coach of St. John's University
St. John's University (New York City)
St. John's University is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational university located in New York City, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1870, the school was originally located in the borough of Brooklyn in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant...
in New York, Joe Lapchick
Joe Lapchick
Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick was a professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 30s. He is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, overshadowed in his later years only by Tarzan Cooper...
, informing him that he was considering a transfer to the university. Lapchick replied to Cousy, telling him that Julian was "one of the finest basketball coaches in America," and that he was not restricting Cousy's playing time under bad intentions. He told Cousy that Julian would use him more often during his later years with the team. Lapchick wrote that transferring was very risky, and according to NCAA rules, Cousy would have to wait a year before becoming eligible to play on the university basketball team.
Cousy's fate changed in a match against Loyola of Chicago
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
at the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
. With five minutes left to play and Holy Cross trailing, the crowd started to chant "We want Cousy! We want Cousy!" until coach Julian relented. In these few minutes, Cousy scored 11 points
Point (basketball)
Points in basketball are used to keep track of the score in a game. Points can be accumulated by making field goals or free throws ....
and hit a game-winning buzzer beater
Buzzer beater
In basketball, a buzzer beater is a shot taken just before the game clock of a period expires, when the buzzer sounds. The term is normally reserved for baskets that win or tie the game, but also refers to shots that beat an end-of-quarter or halftime buzzer...
after a behind-the-back dribble. The performance established him on the school team, and he led Holy Cross to 26 consecutive wins and second place in the National Invitation Tournament
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
(NIT) and became a three-time All-American.
The first years (1950–56)
Cousy turned professional and made himself available for the 1950 NBA Draft1950 NBA Draft
The 1950 NBA Draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association . This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950 before the 1950–51 season. In this draft, 12 remaining NBA teams took turns...
at a time when the local Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
had just concluded the 1949–50 NBA season with a poor 22–46 win-loss record and had the first draft pick. It was strongly anticipated that they would draft the highly coveted local favorite Cousy. However, coach Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...
snubbed him in favour of center
Center (basketball)
The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
Charlie Share, commenting: "I'm supposed to win, not go after local yokel
Yokel
Yokel is a derogatory term referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people.-Stereotype:In the US, it is used to describe someone living in rural areas...
s". The local press strongly criticised Auerbach, but other scouts were also skeptical about Cousy, viewing him as being flamboyant but ineffective. One scout wrote in his report: "The first time he tries that fancy Dan stuff in this league, they'll cram the ball down his throat."
As a result, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks drafted Cousy, but the point guard was unenthusiastic about his new employer. Cousy was trying to establish a driving school in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
and did not want to move into a left field consisting of three small towns of Moline
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
, Rock Island
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
and Davenport
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. As compensation for having to give up his driving school, Cousy demanded a salary of $10,000 from Blackhawks owner Bob Kerner. When Kerner only offered him $6,000, Cousy refused to report. The latter was then picked up by the Chicago Stags
Chicago Stags
The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago, Illinois, U.S..- Franchise history :The Chicago Stags were founded in 1946 and folded in 1950. Despite their short history, they were able to acquire the draft rights to a young Bob Cousy in a trade with the Tri-Cities...
, but when they folded, league Commissioner Maurice Podoloff
Maurice Podoloff
Maurice Podoloff was a U.S. lawyer and basketball and ice hockey administrator. He was the first president of the National Basketball Association...
declared three Stags available for a dispersal draft: Stags scoring champion Max Zaslofsky
Max Zaslofsky
Max "Slats" Zaslofsky was an American professional basketball player and coach.-Biography:Zaslofsky attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, and St. John's University. He was Jewish....
, Andy Phillip and Cousy. Walter A. Brown
Walter A. Brown
Walter A. Brown was the original owner of the Boston Celtics as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States.-Life:...
, owner of the Boston Celtics, was one of the three club bosses invited. He later made it clear that he was hoping for Zaslofsky, would have tolerated Phillip, and did not want Cousy. When the Celtics drew Cousy, Brown confessed: "I could have fallen to the floor." Hence, Cousy became a Celtic, with Brown reluctantly giving him a $9,000 salary.
It was not long before both Auerbach and Brown changed their minds. With an average of 15.6 points, 6.9 rebounds
Rebound (basketball)
A rebound in basketball is the act of successfully gaining possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part in the game, as all possessions change after a shot is successfully made...
and 4.9 assists a game, Cousy received the first of his 13 consecutive All-NBA Team call-ups, and led a Celtics team with future Hall-of-Famer Ed Macauley
Ed Macauley
Charles Edward "Ed" Macauley was a professional basketball player in the NBA. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed."...
and Bones McKinney
Bones McKinney
Horace Albert "Bones" McKinney was an American professional basketball player and coach....
to a 39–30 record in the 1950–51 NBA season. However, in the 1951 NBA Playoffs
1951 NBA Playoffs
The 1951 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1950-1951 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Rochester Royals defeating the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks, four games to three in the NBA Finals.The Rochester...
, the Celtics were beaten by the New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. The next year, the Celtics added future Hall-of-Fame guard Bill Sharman
Bill Sharman
William Walton "Bill" Sharman is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest...
in the 1951 NBA Draft
1951 NBA Draft
The 1951 NBA Draft was the fifth annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on April 25, 1951 before the 1951–52 season. In this draft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse...
, and by averaging 21.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, Cousy earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination. Nonetheless, the Celtics stranded again against the Knicks in the 1952 NBA Playoffs
1952 NBA Playoffs
The 1952 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1951-1952 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks, four games to three in the NBA Finals.The first...
.
In the following season, Cousy made further progress. Averaging 7.7 assists per game, he won the first of his eight consecutive assists titles. These numbers were made despite the fact that the NBA had not yet introduced the shot clock
Shot clock
A shot clock is used in some sports to quicken the pace of the game. It is normally associated with basketball, but has also found use in sports such as snooker, professional lacrosse, water polo, and korfball....
, making the game static and putting prolific assist givers at a disadvantage. Powered by Auerbach's quick fastbreak
Fastbreak
Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. There are various styles of the fast break and the fast break attack...
-dominated tactics, the Celtics won 46 games and beat the Syracuse Nationals
Syracuse Nationals
The Syracuse Nationals were an American professional basketball team that existed from 1946 to 1963 as part of the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association . They are currently known as the Philadelphia 76ers, and are the NBA's oldest continued franchise.The team began in...
2–0 in the 1953 NBA Playoffs
1953 NBA Playoffs
The 1953 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1952-1953 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks, four games to one in the NBA Finals.The Lakers...
. The second match ended 111–105 in a four-overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
thriller, in which Cousy had a much-lauded game. Despite nursing an injured leg, he scored 25 points after four quarters, scored 6 of his team's 9 points in the first overtime, hit a clutch
Clutch (sports)
In American sports terminology, "clutch" means performing well under extreme pressure. It often refers to high levels of production in a critical game, such as Game 7 of a best-of-seven series, the last hole of a Major Championship golf tournament, or the final minute in a close match...
free throw in the last seconds, and scored all four of the Celtics' points in the second overtime. Cousy scored 8 more points in the third overtime, among them a 25 feet (7.6 m) buzzer beater
Buzzer beater
In basketball, a buzzer beater is a shot taken just before the game clock of a period expires, when the buzzer sounds. The term is normally reserved for baskets that win or tie the game, but also refers to shots that beat an end-of-quarter or halftime buzzer...
. In the fourth overtime, he scored 9 of Boston's 12 points. Cousy ended the game playing 66 minutes, and scoring 50 points after making a still-standing record of 30 free throws in 32 attempts. This game is regarded by the NBA as one of the finest scoring feats ever, in line with Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game
Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game
Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, named by the National Basketball Association as one of its greatest games, was a regular-season game between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks held on March 2, 1962, at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.The Warriors won the game 169-147,...
. However, for the third time in a row, the Knicks defeated the Celtics in the next round.
In the next three years, Cousy firmly established himself as one of the best point guards of the league. Leading the league in assists again in all three seasons, and averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds, the versatile Cousy earned himself three further All-NBA First Team and All-Star honors, and was also Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 1954 NBA All-Star Game
1954 NBA All-Star Game
The 1954 NBA All Star Game was the fourth NBA All-Star Game. It was held on January 21, 1954 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics was the game MVP. Joe Lapchick of the New York Knicks coached the Eastern Conference and John Kundla of the Minneapolis Lakers...
. In terms of playing style, Cousy introduced an array of visually attractive street basketball moves, described by the NBA as a mix of ambidextrous, behind-the-back dribbling and "no-look passes, behind-the-back feeds or half-court fastbreak launches". Cousy's modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
contrasted with the rest of the NBA, which was dominated by muscular low post scorers and deliberate flat-footed set shooters. Soon, he was called "Houdini of the Hardwood" after the magician Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
. Cousy's crowd-pleasing and effective play drew the crowd into the Boston Garden and also won over coach Auerbach, who no longer saw him as a liability, but as an essential building block for the future.
The Celtics eventually added two talented forwards, namely future Hall-of-Famer Frank Ramsey
Frank Ramsey (basketball)
Frank Vernon Ramsey, Jr. is a former professional basketball player and coach. A 6-3 guard, he played his entire nine-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics and played a major role in the early part of their dynasty, winning seven championships...
and defensive specialist Jim Loscutoff
Jim Loscutoff
James Loscutoff Jr. is a former professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics. A forward, Loscutoff played on seven Celtics championship teams between 1956 and 1964....
. Along with Celtics colleague Bob Brannum
Bob Brannum
Robert Warren Brannum was an American basketball player.A 6'5" center from Winfield, Kansas, Brannum attended the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University before playing professional basketball....
, Loscutoff also became Cousy's unofficial bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
, retaliating against opposing players who would try to hurt him. The Celtics were unable to make their mark in the 1954
1954 NBA Playoffs
The 1954 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1953-1954 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals, four games to three in the NBA Finals.For the...
, 1955
1955 NBA Playoffs
The 1955 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1954-1955 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons, four games to three in the NBA Finals.This...
and 1956 NBA Playoffs
1956 NBA Playoffs
The 1956 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1955-1956 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons, four games to one in the NBA Finals.It was...
, where they lost three times in a row against the Nationals of Hall-of-fame forward Dolph Schayes
Dolph Schayes
Adolph "Dolph" Schayes is a retired American professional basketball player and coach in the NBA. A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals and a 12-time All-Star....
. Cousy attributed the shortcomings to fatigue, stating: "We would get tired in the end and could not get the ball". As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive center who could both get easy rebounds, initiate fastbreaks and close out games.
Dynasty years (1956–63)
In the 1956-57 NBA season, Auerbach acquired two future Hall-of-Famers: forward Tom Heinsohn, and defensive center Bill RussellBill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
. Powered by these new recruits, the Celtics went 44–28 in the regular season, and Cousy averaged 20.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and a league-leading 7.5 assists, earning his first NBA Most Valuable Player Award
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1955–56 NBA season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement...
; he also won his second NBA All-Star Game MVP award. The Celtics reached the 1957 NBA Finals
1957 NBA Finals
The 1957 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1956-57 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1957 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics....
, and powered by Cousy on offense and rugged center Russell on defense, they beat the Hawks 4–3, who were noted for future Hall-of-Fame power forward
Power forward (basketball)
Power forward is a position in the sport of basketball. The position is referred to in playbook terms as the four position and is commonly abbreviated "PF". It has also been referred to as the "post" position. Power forwards play a role similar to that of center in what is called the "post" or "low...
Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks . He was the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970...
and former teammates Macauley and Hagan. Cousy finally won his first title.
In the 1957–58 NBA season, Cousy had yet another highly productive year, with his 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game leading to nominations into the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star team. He again led the NBA in assists. The Celtics reached the 1958 NBA Finals
1958 NBA Finals
The 1958 NBA Finals pitted the Western Champion St. Louis Hawks against the Eastern Champion Boston Celtics. The Hawks won the series in six games to become the National Basketball Association champions.-Series summary:Hawks win series 4-2...
against the Hawks, but when Russell succumbed to a foot injury in Game 3, the Celtics faded and bowed out four games to two. This was the last losing NBA playoff series in which Cousy would play.
In the following 1958–59 NBA season, the Celtics took revenge on their opposition, powered by an inspired Cousy, who averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a league-high 8.6 assists a game, won yet another assists title and another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nominations. Late in the season, Cousy reasserted his playmaking dominance by setting an NBA record with 28 assists in a game against the Minneapolis Lakers. While this record was eventually broken some 19 years later, Cousy's 19 assists in a single half has never been surpassed. The Celtics stormed through the playoffs and, behind Cousy's 51 total assists (still a record for a four-game NBA Finals series), defeated the Minneapolis Lakers in the first 4–0 sweep ever in the NBA Finals
1959 NBA Finals
The 1959 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1958-59 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1959 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics....
.
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Cousy was again productive, his 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game earning him his eighth consecutive assists title and another joint All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nomination. Again, the Celtics defeated all opposition and won the 1960 NBA Finals
1960 NBA Finals
The 1960 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1959-60 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1960 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. It...
4–3 against the Hawks. A year later
1960-61 NBA season
The 1960–61 NBA season was the 15th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 3rd straight NBA Championship, beating the St...
, the 32-year-old Cousy scored 18.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, winning another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star nominations, but failing to win the assists crown after eight consecutive seasons. However, the Celtics won the 1961 NBA Finals
1961 NBA Finals
The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1960-61 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1961 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics...
after convincingly beating the Hawks 4–1.
In the 1961–62 NBA season, the aging Cousy slowly began to fade statistically, averaging 15.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and was voted into the All-NBA Second Team after ten consecutive First Team nominations. Still, he enjoyed a satisfying post-season, winning the 1962 NBA Finals
1962 NBA Finals
The 1962 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1961-62 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1962 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics...
after two closely fought 4–3 battles against two upcoming teams, the Philadelphia Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
of Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
and then the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
of Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor is a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers....
and Jerry West
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
. The Finals series against the Lakers was especially dramatic, because Lakers guard Frank Selvy failed to make a last-second buzzer beater
Buzzer beater
In basketball, a buzzer beater is a shot taken just before the game clock of a period expires, when the buzzer sounds. The term is normally reserved for baskets that win or tie the game, but also refers to shots that beat an end-of-quarter or halftime buzzer...
shot in Game 7 which would have won the Los Angeles the title. Finally, in the last season of his career, Cousy averaged 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists, and collected one last All-Star and All-NBA Second Team nomination. In the 1963 NBA Finals
1963 NBA Finals
The 1963 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1962-63 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1963 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics...
, the Celtics again won 4–2 against the Lakers, and Cousy finished his career on a high note: in the fourth quarter of Game 6, Cousy sprained an ankle and had to be helped to the bench. He went back in with the Celtics ahead by only a point. Although he did not score again, his was credited with providing an emotional lift that carried the Celtics to victory 112–109. The game ended with Cousy throwing the ball into the rafters.
At age 35, Cousy ended his playing career. The ceremony in a packed Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
became known as the Boston Tear Party, when the crowd's response overwhelmed Cousy, left him speechless, and caused his planned seven minute farewell to go on for 20. Joe Dillon, a water worker from South Boston, Massachusetts and a devoted Celtics fan screamed "We love ya, Cooz," breaking the tension and the crowd went into cheers. As a testament to Cousy's legacy, President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
wired to Cousy: "The game bears an indelible stamp of your rare skills and competitive daring."
Post-player career
After retiring as a player, Cousy published his autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
Basketball Is My Life in 1963, and in the same year, he became coach at Boston College. In his six seasons there, he had a record of 117 wins and 38 losses and was named New England Coach of the Year for 1968 and 1969. Cousy led the Eagles to three NIT appearances including a berth at the 1969 NIT Championship and two National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
tournaments including a berth at the 1967 Eastern Regional Finals. However, he grew bored with college basketball and made his return to the NBA as coach of the Cincinnati Royals
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
, team of fellow Hall-of-Fame point guard Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
. He later said about this engagement: "I did it for the money. I was made the offer I couldn't refuse." In 1970, the 41-year-old Cousy even made a late-season comeback as a player to boost ticket sales. Despite his meager output of a cumulative 5 points in 34 minutes of play time in seven games, ticket sales jumped by 77 percent. However, Cousy stepped down as coach early in the 1973–74 NBA season with a mediocre 141–209 record. In later life, Cousy was Commissioner of the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
from 1974 to 1979, and he has been a color analyst on Celtics telecasts since the 1980s." In addition, he had a cameo role in the basketball film Blue Chips
Blue Chips
Blue Chips is a 1994 drama film about basketball, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach and real-life basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as talented finds....
in 1993. A memorable scene from the film, in which Cousy played a college athletic director, featured a conversation between Cousy and the team's head coach, played by Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
. In one long, unbroken take, Cousy talked with Nolte while sinking foul shot after foul shot, prompting Nolte to say, in an unscripted line, "Don't you ever miss?" Today, he is a marketing consultant for the Celtics, and occasionally makes broadcast appearances with Mike Gorman
Mike Gorman
Michael "Mike" Gorman is a television play-by-play commentator for the Boston Celtics basketball team, currently broadcasting on the Comcast Sportsnet New England or the New England Sports Network cable channel...
and ex-Celtic teammate Tom Heinsohn.
College coaching record
NBA coaching record
|-| align="left" |Cincinnati
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
| align="left" |
|82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |5th in Eastern||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Cincinnati
| align="left" |
|82||33||49||.402|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Cincinnati
| align="left" |
|82||30||52||.366|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha
| align="left" |
|82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha
| align="left" |
|22||6||16||.273|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||350||141||209||.403|| ||—||—||—||—
Legacy
In 1954, the NBA had no health benefits, no pension plan, no minimum salary, and the average players salary was $8,000 a season. To combat this, Cousy organized the National Basketball Players AssociationNational Basketball Players Association
The National Basketball Players Association is a trade association that represents basketball players in the National Basketball Association . It was previously a labor union before dissolving during the 2011 NBA lockout. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major...
— the first trade union among those in the four major North American professional sports leagues. Cousy served as its first president until 1958.
In his 13-year, 924-game NBA playing career, Cousy finished with 16,960 points, 4,786 rebounds and 6,955 assists, translating to averages of 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. He was regarded as the first great point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
of the NBA, winning eight of the first 11 assist titles in the league, all of them en bloc, and had a highly successful career, winning six NBA titles, one MVP award, 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA First and Second Team call-ups and two All-Star MVP awards. With his eye-catching dribbling and unorthodox passing, Cousy popularised modern guard play and raised the profile of the Boston Celtics and the entire NBA. His fast-paced playing style was later emulated by the likes of Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich
Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980...
and Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
.
In recognition of his feats, Cousy was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and was honored by the Boston Celtics franchise which retired his number 14 jersey. Celtics owner Walter Brown said: "The Celtics wouldn't be here without him [Cousy]. He made basketball in this town. If he had played in New York he would have been the biggest thing since [New York Yankees baseball legend] Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
. I think he is anyway." In addition, on May 11, 2006, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.com rated Cousy as the fifth greatest point guard of all time, lauding him as "ahead of his time with his ballhandling and passing skills" and pointing out he is only one of four point guards ever to win a NBA Most Valuable Player award.
On November 16, 2008 Cousy's college number of 17 was hoisted to the Hart Center rafters. During halftime of a game between the Holy Cross Crusaders and St. Joseph's Hawks, Cousy, George Kaftan
George Kaftan
George Kaftan is a retired American basketball player.George grew up in New York City and went to Xavier High School in Manhattan before going to Holy Cross for college. Though just 6'3", Kaftan was the starting center for the College of the Holy Cross team that won the 1947 NCAA Basketball...
, Togo Palazzi
Togo Palazzi
Togo Anthony Palazzi is a retired American basketball player.A 6'4" forward/guard, Palazzi played at the College of the Holy Cross in the 1950s. He was captain of the Crusaders team that won the 1954 NIT Championship and was named MVP of the tournament.Palazzi was selected by the Boston Celtics...
, and Tommy Heinsohn's numbers became the first to hang from the gymnasium's ceiling.
Personal life
Cousy married his college sweetheart, Missie Ritterbusch, in December 1950. She has been his spouse for over 60 years. They live in Worcester, MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, and have two daughters.
Cousy was well-known, both on and off the court, for his anti-racist attitude, a result of his upbringing in a multicultural environment. In 1950, the Celtics played a match in the then-segregated city of Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, and teammate Chuck Cooper — the first African-American in NBA history to be drafted—would have been denied a hotel room. Instead of taking the hotel room, Cousy insisted on travelling with Cooper on an uncomfortable overnight train. He described their visit to a segregated men's toilet—Cooper was prohibited to use the clean "for whites" bathroom and had to use the shabby "for colored" facility—as one of the most shameful experiences of his life. He also sympathized with the plight of black Celtics star Bill Russell
Bill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
, who was frequently a victim of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. In addition, Cousy was close friends with his Celtics mentor Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...
and was one of the few people who could call him "Arnold" (his real first name) instead of "Red".
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
- List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game