Bob Cousy
Bob Cousy
Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousyis an American retired professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard with the Boston Celtics from 1950 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 NCAA Tournament and 1950 NCAA Tournament and was named...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth9 August 1928
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I once heard that Paul Seymour said as much as winning an NBA Championship, he'd like to see the Celtics lose a game after Auerbach brought out the cigar so he could go up to Arnold and stuff the cigar in his face.
Cooper was my road roommate, and also happened to be the first African American player drafted by a National Basketball Association team.
The NBA wasn't a big deal at that time, so it wasn't really in my career plans.
We ran an up-tempo, transition-style of game at Boston College - very similar to what we ran when I played for Arnold.
You have to remember that coaching wasn't sophisticated back then - you didn't have the camps, clinics and all the technical advances that are available today - so from that standpoint, playing with a cast on my arm was a fortunate event in my life.
I dribbled by the hour with my left hand when I was young. I didn't have full control, but I got so I could move the ball back and forth from one hand to the other without breaking the cadence of my dribble. I wasn't dribbling behind my back or setting up any trick stuff, but I was laying the groundwork for it.
My biggest win was getting the meal money bumped from $5 to $7.
My family was poor, my father drove a cab for a living, but we felt normal because everybody else was in the same boat.
People have been killing because of racial differences since the time of Adam and Eve, but in this country racism has been primarily aimed at African Americans.
Race wasn't an issue. My family was French, but Yorkville was a melting pot of races and cultures.
Russell joined the team in December, 1956, following the Olympics.
Do your best when no one is looking.
These days I smile benignly at the fights that I see in NBA games. There aren't any broken noses or black eyes, which happened quite often when I played.
Bob Brannum was my body guard on the court. He was 6'-6 and built like a bulldog.