Bob Cousy

In today's NBA, everybody can dribble behind their back, and most can make fancy passes. But in the NBA of the 1950's, only one man could. Bob Cousy, the "Houdini of the Hardwood".

Cousy didn't touch a basketball until he was 13 years old. However, as soon as he did, he was hooked. He finally was able to display his talents when he made the high school basketball team as a junior. A year later, as a senior, he was the leading scorer in New York City. Cousy elected to attend Holly Cross, where he became an All-American, and won an NCAA Championship.

When the 1950 NBA draft rolled around, Cousy wanted to play for the nearby Boston Celtics. However, the Celtics passed on him, grabbing 6'11" Charlie Share instead. "Little men are a dime a dozen. I'm supposed to win, not go after local yokels," explained legendary Celtic coach Red Auerbach. So the Cooz was drafted by the Tri-Cities Hawks, who promptly traded him to the Chicago Stags. The Stags, however, folded before the season. When it came down to it, Max Zaslofsky, Andy Phillip, and the Cooz were up for grabs between the Knicks, Philadelphia, and Boston. Each player's name went into a hat, and the Knicks got to draw first. They were hoping for Max, as was Boston and Philadelphia, and that was who they got. Then Philadelphia drew, hoping to land Phillip, which they did. So, the Celtics were "stuck" with Cousy.

The 6'1" guard went on to play 13 seasons with the Celtics, and came out of retirement to play 7 games for the Cincinnati Royals. Each year, he was an All-Star. He led the league in assists eight years in a row, was the All-Star Game MVP in 1954 and 1957, and was the 1957 NBA Regular Season MVP. Oh yeah...the "local yokel" also won 6 titles.

Cousy's playmaking abilities earned him the admiration of many. "Cooz was the absolute offensive master, the best playmaking guard that ever played the game," stated teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer Tom Heinsohn. "The rest of us," exclaimed KC Jones, "have to think about the things we do. He does them instinctively."

However, probably the quote that best illustrates his skills was that of former Minneapolis Laker forward Steve Hamilton. "...he went up in the air and he switched the ball from his right hand to his left hand behind his back. You've seen him do that, right? I figured he was going to shoot a lefty lay-up. But he didn't! You know what that son-of-a-gun did? He put the ball in front of him, from his left hand to his right hand. Then he switched the ball behind his back again and he shot a lefty lay-up. Now that was twice he switched the ball behind his back. I couldn't believe it. I still don't believe it...Cooz, could do anything I guess."

SEASON	TEAM	G	FGM	FGA	PCT	FTM	FTA	PCT	REB	AST	PTS	APG	PPG
50-51	CELTICS	69	401	1138	.352	276	365	.756	474	341	1078	4.9	15.6
51-52	CELTICS	66	512	1388	.369	409	506	.808	421	441	1433	6.7	21.7
52-53	CELTICS	71	464	1320	.352	479	587	.816	449	547	1407	7.7	19.8
53-54	CELTICS	72	486	1262	.385	411	522	.787	394	518	1383	7.2	19.2
54-55	CELTICS	71	522	1316	.397	460	570	.807	424	557	1504	7.8	21.2
55-56	CELTICS	72	440	1223	.360	476	564	.844	492	642	1356	8.9	18.8
56-57	CELTICS	64	478	1264	.378	363	442	.821	309	478	1319	7.5	20.6
57-58	CELTICS	65	445	1262	.353	277	326	.850	322	463	1167	7.1	18.0
58-59	CELTICS	65	484	1260	.384	329	385	.855	359	557	1297	8.6	20.0
59-60	CELTICS	75	568	1481	.384	319	403	.792	352	715	1455	9.5	19.4
60-61	CELTICS	76	513	1382	.371	352	452	.779	331	587	1378	7.7	18.1
61-62	CELTICS	75	462	1181	.391	251	333	.754	261	584	1175	7.8	15.7
62-63	CELTICS	76	392	988	.397	219	298	.735	193	515	1003	6.8	13.2
69-70	ROYALS	7	1	3	.333	3	3	1.000	5	10	5	1.4	0.7
TOTALS		924	6168	16468	.375	4624	5756	.803	4786	6955	16960	7.5	18.4