In 2023, Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy said he was “in overtime” in the game of life. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and six-time champion had just turned 95 and his goal was to see his former team snap a tie with the rival Los Angeles Lakers for the most NBA championships in history. With Boston’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, the Celtics now have the most titles with 18.
On August 9, Cousy turned 96. He ripped Team USA coach Steve Kerr for sitting Celtics star Jayson Tatum for an Olympic game twice during the team’s run to a gold medal. He also said he’d love to be in attendance during the 2024-25 season when the team raises its record-setting banner. At 96, Cousy is still going strong.
Bob Cousy Still Bleeds Celtics Green
Cousy was a 13-time NBA All-Star and was named All-NBA 12 times in his 14-year career. He retired after 13 seasons with the Celtics but returned to the NBA after a six-year absence and played seven games for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969-70 season.
A 6-foot-1, 175-pound point guard, Cousy led the league in assists in eight consecutive seasons and was named MVP during the 1956-57 season. In 2023, during his 95th birthday, Cousy admitted he was on borrowed time after watching former teammates Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn earlier in the decade. He said one of his wishes was to see the Celtics hang another banner.
“I’m 95 (expletive) years old with one foot in the grave and I can barely move,” Cousy told Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe. “I know I’m in overtime. So everything in your life becomes more meaningful. And one of the last things I want to be able to see is for the Celtics to hang up banner No. 18.”
Bob Cousy would love to be in attendance when Banner 18 is raised… but he has one condition 🗣️ ☘️
Cousy’s wish came true. After the championship, he said he’d love to attend the banner-raising ceremony with his good friend and former teammate Tom “Satch” Sanders.
“It’s something I would love to participate in,” Cousy said of the banner ceremony, per NBC Sports Boston. “I would have one condition that I share it with my dear friend and the only remaining player left from the ’50s and ’60s, Satch Sanders. He doesn’t get enough attention. I would love to have him at my side.”
Cousy Got Fired Up About Jayson Tatum Getting Benched During the Olympics
Celtics fans were irate during the Olympics when Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, sat Tatum for two games during the team’s gold-medal run.
Still a die-hard Celtics supporter, Cousy felt the same way. He threw in an expletive or two for good measure.
“Tatum is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month,” he told Shaughnessy in an Aug. 9 story. “Any experts that I’ve read lately have chosen him in the top five, and sometimes No. 1 in the [expletive] world. Now Kerr is telling the world that he doesn’t agree.”
Cousy said he knows what it’s like to coach a team of all-stars. He knows it’s tough to get everyone minutes. For Tatum to see no playing time in two games, Cousy felt like it was a little personal.
“I’ve been through these emotions from a coaching standpoint,” he said. “In 1973, I coached an American team that played against the Russians, who had just beaten us in the 1972 Olympics. I had Bill Walton, Ernie DiGregorio, Bobby Jones, George Karl. I had a pretty good unit.
“So I’ve been through the emotions from a coaching standpoint as to what you deal with in international competition.”
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The Only Living Player From the Celtics’ 1st Title Still Has Plenty of Fire