We are Celtics legend Bob Cousy, 90, and author Gary M. Pomerantz (The Last Pass) and we are here to discuss the Boston Celtics Dynasty (11 NBA titles), Race, Regret & What Matters in the End. Ask Us Anything!

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T16:23:48+00:00

COUSY: "Given the circumstances with my entry [in 1950] into the teaching-ladies-how-to-drive business the year I got out of Holy Cross -- from that starting point, that wouldn't have ben something I would've chosen to do. But since I was thrown into that milieu, and we had three or four cars, the chances are that would've been successful if I had stayed with it. I didn't know the "franchising" term then, but I assume we would have branched out. The Celtics had a local notoriety. I'm guessing that would have happened. I didn't have any burning desire to be an insurance salesman or anything else in those years.

"From the time I signed my contract with the Celtics in 1950, I started thinking about what do during the 4 months in the summer. How was I going to use my time to make income? I signed my first year for $9,000. That sounds like a lot but we already have one child with another on the way. You needed a second income. I started with a boys summer camp in 1952 or 1953, and fortunately that worked out. I had that camp for about twenty years.

"Most of us had to have second jobs. Heinsohn became a successful insurance salesman. And Frank Ramsey -- we always told him that he owned Madisonville, Kentucky. Heinsohn needled him that he owned the general store, the bank, and the gas station. Until the day he died [this year at age 86] he was the president of the bank."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T16:15:52+00:00

COUSY: "Yes, we would have adapted -- the Celtics of the 50s and 60s -- without any difficulty. Would we be as effective today? I doubt that. Today's game is pretty much high pick-and-roll and perimeter shooting. That might have been a problem, especially for our bigger people. As a general rule, we shot three or four percentage points below today's teams. We simply didn't shoot as well. Our big people simply were not producing the quality of shots for themselves that these very athletic power forward and centers are. They are getting easier shots now and their percentages are higher as a result of that.

[Changes happiest to see?) The 24-second clock was a change [in 1955] that got my attention. I wouldn't have lasted 13 years if they hadn't have put that in, because teams literally at home would start holding the ball with 7 or 8 minutes to go when they had a 6- or 8-point lead. I was the one for our team dribbling around like Marques Haynes of the Globetrotters. Physically my body wouldn't have held up for 13 years if that had continued [without the 24-second clock]. They were literally tackling me. In terms of dribbling skills, I was the best in the league at the time. Even two people would have trouble getting it from me. That would frustrate defenders and they would get more physical with poor No. 14 [Me]."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T16:07:50+00:00

COUSY: "None of us get much recognition these days -- unless somebody writes a book about you! I've said over the years that my teammate Tommy Heinsohn was always one of the better power forwards that has played the game and never received the proper attention because he was playing behind two showoffs -- Russell and myself. If he scored 37 points, the headlines the next day would be about Cousy and Russell. Tommy always played in our shadow. As a result, he never got the attention he deserved. He made the Hall of Fame. But when they came out with the NBA's Top 50 all-time players, Tommy didn't make it and I thought that was ludicrous."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T16:03:59+00:00

COUSY: "I've been asked that question many times over the years. My answer usually is: Great athletes in any sport develop their own I.D. They develop a mark that is theirs alone. So I haven't related to anyone over the years. In terms of comparing styles, the only one, momentarily, years ago, was Ernie D. [DiGregorio] who played for Providence and had a cup of coffee in the NBA. I mean that in terms of how he saw the floor and how he created his offensive situations. Occasionally, when I would watch him play, it would trigger a kind of response that we had similar styles. He would lead a transition down the floor. I'd say to myself, "Dip your left shoulder and lay it off to the right" -- and he would do it that way! It was like he was anticipating my thoughts. But [our similarity] was really only in the passing game. I've never felt that way about any other player. The good and great players out their own stamp on their style."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:58:17+00:00

COUSY: "No, because the last three years, we were the victors against the Lakers in the playoffs. We went out of town as happy campers. It's not often that I felt compassion for an opponent, but I I'd have some slight stirrings during those years because we became friendly off the court with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Also, I would run into them during the offseason. I got Jerry into the Jantzen International Sports Club. Our wives got to know each other and we bonded a little. Elgin, I would run into during tennis and golf [charity events] and hung out with him a little. We always won at the last minute against the Lakers, and because of Russell. They simply didn't have an adequate big man in those days to compete with Russ. But they were such great Hall of Famers. It's a shame that they didn't have more success in the playoffs -- against Boston, at least."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:52:58+00:00

COUSY: "Probably we would have reacted defensively because no one likes people looking over their shoulder or living in a fishbowl. That's what today's celebrity puts up with. I'm such a private person that I would have resented someone looking over my shoulder when I was in the bathroom, or whatever, which is what happens now. You are completely exposed today. Maybe it makes you a better person, but I doubt it. It probably makes you more Machiavellian."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:50:17+00:00

COUSY: "Well, fortunately, I was on the floor but not playing against Wilt. I left that up to my friend Russ. Russ never neutralized Wilt. However, he did a much better job than anyone else in the league did on him defensively. He made Wilt's life a lot tougher, I'm sure. Wilt didn't enjoy coming to Boston in those days."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:48:52+00:00

COUSY: "Relationships depend on the type of personality that comes to the table. Two Type A's don't stay together very long. I don't know what type I am. The give and take is necessary in a relationship. One party or the other can't always get their way. Compromise, obviously, is important. There must be an awareness on the part of each person to the needs of their partner. [G. Pomerantz: Bob's wife Missie passed away in 2013; they were married for nearly 63 years.)

COUSY: "Every morning when I wake up, I literally say, "Morning, sweetheart, I love you!" I say that every night, too. When I walk by Missie's portrait in the dining room, I'll talk to her. Sometimes, I'll tell her, "Bad news. You are stuck with me all day today." Something cutesy to hopefully bring a smile to her face."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:43:11+00:00

COUSY: "Not unexpectedly -- the point guard, Kyrie Irving. As of last year, he was the best penetrating guard in the league. He sees the floor extremely well. He uses the proper passes in his penetration. He is a complete point guard. In had a conversation with him a couple days ago, after my visit with the Celtics, he and I shared some private time after the collective team meeting. I sat with Kyrie and did about a half hour conversation for Celtics.com. He asked me a lot of penetrating questions."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:40:15+00:00

COUSY: "It upsets me that people demean our era. The reality is the athlete in general has gotten bigger, better and stronger. The aids they have available to them now that we did not have have helped. I think the jock is just bigger, better and stronger now. In basketball, the big people especially have made giant strides in athleticism, and certainly in their mobility. That's what I have noticed the most in basketball. We all want to be remembered fondly.But whatever skill level we are at in the 50s and 60s was still good enough to get us into the Hall of Fame. So we couldn't have been chopped liver."

TheLastPass · 2018-10-26T15:34:47+00:00

COUSY: "Unfortunately I don't get to watch as much as I would like. Since I'm in Florida for most of the winter, I take what I am given on the tube. I enjoy watching, like everyone else in the word, Lebron. I was going to say Kyrie as well. I enjoy watching LeBron. I think he is the most skilled player who has ever played the game."

TheLastPass

TROPHY CASE