Bob Cousy - Legacy

Legacy

In 1954, the NBA had no health benefits, pension plan, minimum salary, and the average players salary was $8,000 a season. To combat this, Cousy organized the National Basketball Players Association –; the first trade union among those in the four major North American professional sports leagues. Cousy served as its first president until 1958.

In his 13-year, 924-game NBA playing career, Cousy finished with 16,960 points, 4,786 rebounds and 6,955 assists, translating to averages of 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. He was regarded as the first great point guard of the NBA, winning eight of the first 11 assist titles in the league, all of them en bloc, and had a highly successful career, winning six NBA titles, one MVP award, 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA First and Second Team call-ups and two All-Star MVP awards. With his eye-catching dribbling and unorthodox passing, Cousy popularised modern guard play and raised the profile of the Boston Celtics and the entire NBA. His fast-paced playing style was later emulated by the likes of Pete Maravich and Magic Johnson.

In recognition of his feats, Cousy was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and honored by the Celtics, which retired his #14 jersey. Celtics owner Walter Brown said: "The Celtics wouldn't be here without him . He made basketball in this town. If he had played in New York he would have been the biggest thing since Babe Ruth. I think he is anyway." In addition, on May 11, 2006, ESPN.com rated Cousy as the fifth greatest point guard of all time, lauding him as "ahead of his time with his ballhandling and passing skills" and pointing out he is only one of four point guards ever to win a NBA Most Valuable Player award.

On November 16, 2008 Cousy's college #17 was hoisted to the Hart Center rafters. During halftime of a game between the Holy Cross Crusaders and St. Joseph's Hawks, Cousy, George Kaftan, Togo Palazzi, and Tommy Heinsohn's numbers became the first to hang from the gymnasium's ceiling.