Bob Cousy

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Bob Cousy bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

Bob Cousy : biography

August 9, 1928 –

Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy (born August 9, 1928) is a retired American 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 Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament and 1950 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament and was named an NCAA All-American for 3 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, he was picked up by Boston. Cousy had a very successful career with the Celtics, playing on six championship teams, being voted into 13 NBA All-Star Games 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 straight times and introduced a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills that earned him the nicknames "Cooz", "The Houdini of the Hardwood", and—as he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden—"Mr. Basketball". After his playing career, he coached the Royals for several years, and even made a short comeback for them at age 41. He then 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 #14 jersey and hung it in the rafters of 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.

Early years

Cousy was the only son of poor French immigrants 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 cab 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. He married Julie Corlet, a secretary and French teacher from Dijon.Reynolds, p24. At the time of the 1930 census, the family was renting an apartment in Astoria, Queens, for $50 per month. The younger Cousy spoke French for the first 5 years of his life, and started to speak English only after entering primary school. He spent his early days playing stickball in a multicultural environment, regularly playing with African Americans, Jews and other ethnic minority children. These experiences ingrained him with a strong anti-racist sentiment, an attitude he prominently promoted 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 out the bottom two floors of the three-story building to tenants to help make his mortgage payments on time.Reynolds, p26.

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 entered Andrew Jackson High School in St Albans. His basketball success was not immediate, and in fact he was cut from the school team in his first year. Later that year, he joined the St. Albans Lindens of the Press League, a basketball league sponsored by the Long Island Press,Reynolds, p31. where he developed his basketball skills and gained much-needed experience. The next year, however, he was again cut during the tryouts for the school basketball team.

That same year, he fell out of a tree and broke his right hand. The injury forced him to play left-handed until his hand healed, making him effectively ambidextrous. In retrospect, he described this accident as "a fortunate event" and cited it as a factor in making him more versatile on the court. During a Press League game, the high school basketball coach saw him play. He was impressed by the budding star’s ability to play with both hands, and invited Cousy to come to practice the following day to try out for the junior varsity team. He did well enough to become a permanent member of the JV squad.Reynolds, p32. He continued to practice day and night, and by his junior year was sure he was going to be promoted to the varsity; but failing his citizenship course made him ineligible for the first semester.Reynolds, p34. He joined the varsity squad midway through the season, however, scoring 28 points in his first game.Reynolds, p35. 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 in both academics and basketball skills to make it easier for him to get into college.Reynolds, p36.