The Bailey Howell Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, January 17th, 2005
Mr. Russell walked away a world champion, the
player/coach of the 1969 World Champion Boston Celtics.
The Celtics defeated the Lakers in that 1969 NBA Finals,
winning that memorable Game 7 in L.A. Please take me
back to that classic series, and to Don Nelson’s jumper
that rattled home to win it.
We
barely made the playoffs that season. We were 48-34,
but we were able to put it together in the playoffs.
The Finals against the Lakers was a tough, competitive,
hard, monumental struggle. We prevailed, but I remember
having no energy left after it was over. I was so
tired, but it still felt great because we’d won another
championship.
That seventh game was famous for a number of reasons.
Everyone remembers that Wilt took himself out of the
game with a leg injury, and that [Laker head coach]
Butch
van
Breda Kolff refused to let him back on the court with
the game close in the fourth quarter. There was about
six minutes left in the game when Wilt twisted his right
knee and left the game, but what many people don’t know
is how mad Russell was when that happened. He was
really angry, because the Lakers were really being
beaten when Wilt left. In his mind it ruined a good
game. Russell wanted to win the championship with both
teams at their best, and he openly questioned whether
Wilt was seriously injured. He felt that Wilt wanted
out because the Celtics were winning the game so
decisively, and that the injury was an excuse to leave
the game. It tarnished the last battle between the
game’s two greatest centers. They eventually patched
things up, but for many years that game was a great
source of friction between them. That says something
about Russell’s competitive drive.
Wilt’s injury changed the momentum of the game. We had
a letdown after that. Mel Counts came off the bench and
helped to spark a Laker rally, and suddenly the game got
tight. Wilt wanted to return, but van Breda Kolff
wouldn’t let him back off the bench. And then Don
Nelson hit that big jumper, the one that rattled home
and helped us win the series.
The other memory is one of all of those balloons – Laker
owner Jack Kent Cooke had thousands of them hanging in a
giant net high above the court, ready for the
championship celebration. Russell and Sam Jones took
one look at that, got very angry, and used it as a
source of motivation. They were going to make sure that
those balloons didn’t come down.
Everyone, it seems, has their favorite Red Auerbach
story. Do you have one that stands out?
I
only played for Red in two All-Star Games and one
regular season game, because Red had retired as head
coach after the 1965-66 season. There was a terrible
snowstorm coming in off the ocean that first season. It
dumped a lot of snow in Boston, making it really hard to
get around. Well, back then we used to play
doubleheaders, which meant that the visiting team would
arrive in town a day early, and on this occasion it
actually made it easier for our opponent to reach the
Boston Garden. They were already in a downtown hotel.
The only Boston players who made it to the game that
night were the ones who lived close. I walked a mile
over frozen tracks to make it. John Havlicek got stuck
on the Mystic River Bridge – he left his wife and car
and walked in. Russell got stuck on the same bridge,
but he wasn’t about to abandon his Lamborghini [laughs].
So Russell didn’t make it that night. Red called a
timeout during the game, and in the huddle he looked
over to me. I hadn’t been shooting the ball well. Red
said, “Howell, don’t worry about missing those shots.
I’ll worry about you missing those shots. Just make
sure that you take the open shot – if you don’t, then
you’re going to be sitting on the bench with me.” Well,
I went on to have one of my most productive nights. I
think I scored thirty-seven points. Red was a genius at
handling people.
On September 29, 1997 you received basketball’s highest
honor. Please take me back to that special day, and
your induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame.
That
was icing on the cake for me. Many of my heroes – the
people that I admired and looked up to – were already in
the Hall of Fame, so it was a thrill to join them. I
really don’t have the words to describe what I felt that
night. It was a great evening. I was very proud – most
of my family was there, so it was one of the big
highlights of my life. To be recognized in my
profession as one of the people who achieved, as one who
tried to reach my full potential…it was a very humbling
experience. I’ll never forget it.
Final Question: You’ve achieved great success in your
life. You are universally respected and admired by many
people, both inside and outside of the NBA. If you
could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what
would that be?
Don’t
take any shortcuts. Be willing to go the extra mile,
and to do things the right way.
