CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
 

The Bob Cousy Interview

 

By:  Michael D. McClellan | February 9th, 2004

 

 

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Bill Russell arrived during the 1956-57 season, touching off the greatest dynasty in the history of professional sports.  What was it like to lose a great teammate such as “Easy” Ed Macauley, and what was it like to gain a player as dominant as Russell?
 
As much as we liked Ed we weren’t going to lose a lot of sleep over that trade [laughs].  Before the trade we were a decent offensive team – we could shoot, we could dribble, and we could score – but we couldn’t play championship defense or rebound the basketball.  Those were the major problems that plagued us in the years before Russell joined the Boston Celtics, and the main reasons we couldn’t win a title.  Players like Loscy [Jim Loscutoff] and Heinsohn added a hell of a lot of power to the team, but we would have been lucky to win one championship without Russell.  He was the most dominant defensive player in the history of the game, although we didn’t know that at the time.  We just didn’t realize that we were getting a player of that stature, but it didn’t take us long to figure out what we had.

 

Russell joined the team in December, 1956, following the Olympics.  His first game was nationally televised, against St. Louis.  He pulled down 16 rebounds and blocked several of Bob Pettit’s shots, and that’s when we realized how important Russell was to winning a championship.

 

 

 

The Celtics finally captured its first NBA championship in 1957, defeating the St. Louis Hawks 125-123 in a double-overtime Game 7 thriller.  You were also named league MVP.  Where does this season rank in terms of personal and team accomplishments?
 
It was the culmination of everything I’d ever worked for as a professional basketball player.  The MVP award was very satisfying in terms of personal accomplishments, but the championship was the most important thing of all.  I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the team.

 

 

 

 

You have a special relationship with the great Bill Russell.  About Russell the player, you have said:  “Bill Russell revolutionized basketball.  He changed the patterns of play both for individuals and for teams.  First and foremost, Bill Russell was a team man.  The one who made us go.  Without him we wouldn’t have won a championship.”  Please add to this quote.  Please tell me about Bill Russell, the man.
 
Bill is a very complex person.  If you’ve done your homework you know that the racial situation of the times played a very big part in shaping Bill into who he is.  He suffered from racism and discrimination in ways that so many people will never understand.  It was very difficult to be an African American at that time, and being a famous athlete only complicated the situation.  On the one hand you were adored for all of your athletic achievements, and on the other you weren’t allowed to play golf at the local country club.

 

Bill suffered racial hatred that was almost unimaginable.  There was an episode where someone defecated in his bed.  He was denied a hotel room in St. Louis during his college days at USF and had to sleep in his car.  I shared his pain as much as possible, but there was only so much I could understand and identify with.  You never truly grasp it unless you actually experience that type of hatred firsthand.

 

People have been killing because of racial differences since the time of Adam and Eve, but in this country racism has been primarily aimed at African Americans.  Bill was a hero in Boston, but that wasn’t necessarily the case everywhere else.

 

 

 

They say that behind every great man is a great woman.  Mr. Russell had this to saying during your final season with the Celtics:  “Bob Cousy and his wife have more or less set the standard for the Celtics as a team, and they are high standards because his wife is, without a doubt, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life.”  Please tell me what it meant to have Missy supporting you throughout your career as a Boston Celtic.
 
If she hadn’t supported me we wouldn’t have been married for 53 years [laughs].  Missy and Bill are still great friends, and talk on the phone regularly.  They share concerns, swap stories, and enjoy each other’s company.