Rumors

Can Jaylen Brown carry the Celtics while Jayson Tatum (Achilles’) is on the shelf this season? “In my judgment, Jaylen is not quite at the superstar level that Tatum is at,” Bob Cousy said. ”Can he carry the load by himself? I see a major rebuilding effort here. Jaylen certainly won’t bring them to the promised land . . . [Derrick] White’s a good player and he’ll produce and he’ll be consistent, but his game doesn’t lend itself to carrying a team. This poor new owner [Bill Chisholm] must be shell-shocked. The minute he signed on the dotted line, the poop started to hit the fan. Everything that could go wrong for that franchise pretty much did. I hope he’s not having buyer’s remorse. I think he’s snakebit."

Boston Globe

“You have to be there to have a sense of what’s going on, and I’m not,” he starts. “I get the impression that [coach Joe] Mazzulla did a good job and had their attention. But in the playoffs, in my experience, the best team wins. There are upsets occasionally, but I have no understanding of how the Celtics could collapse, especially against the [expletive] Knicks. As the Knicks proved in the next round, they were not a legitimate contender." Many of us blamed the loss on Boston’s overreliance on 3-point shooting. “I like the three as a weapon, but not as the first [expletive] option,” Cousy says. “It’s always going to be there for you. It’s not something you have to create. You’re going to have it when you want it. So why eliminate the other options?"

Boston Globe

Bill Cartwright: When I came to the league, uh, who are the guys that I admired? I'm playing against Wes Unseld. I'm playing against Dan Issel. Here's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Here's Jack Sikma. My second game I played against Julius Erving. And by the way, I blocked his shot. I couldn't believe I blocked his shot. So when I came to the league, those guys were my heroes. So now I come to Chicago, it's like what… People are like, "What was it like to play against Mike?" And I'm like, “He was a good young player." So to me, my heroes are the guys that I played and saw when I was a kid. Rest of you guys are just young kids. You guys are young kids. I couldn't be enamored by you young kids. Because I saw John Havlicek play, right? Bob Cousy. I met Bill Russell when I was in high school. So I was supposed to be impressed by these young guys? Get out of here. My heroes are behind me. 

YouTube

Josh Lewenberg: Players to win MVP and an NBA championship in the same season: Steph, LeBron (x2), Duncan, Shaq, Jordan (x4), Hakeem, Magic, Bird (x2), Moses Malone, Kareem (x2), Willis Reed, Wilt, Bill Russell (x4), Bob Cousy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 4 wins away from joining that group.

x.com

Bob Cousy usually only leaves his house for his regular Thursday night cocktail and pizza party at his country club. "I have my two Beefeater on the rocks," he said with a laugh. He and Sanders talk about once a month. "Satch is having hard times," Cousy said with love in his voice. "His wife has been in hospice for over a month, month and a half now. Ginnie is about ready to leave us. I haven't spoken to him now in a few weeks. I remind him not to look over his shoulder. We're the only two freaking guys left!"

ESPN

Mostly, as you can tell, they joke about death. Gallows humor. Cousy references the big basketball court in the sky. The death watch is respectfully quiet but alive. In Marcus Thompson II's 2021 book about the NBA's best dynasties, he smartly clocked the coming run of state funerals. "What was evident then," he wrote, "was how the grains of sand in their hourglasses were dwindling." "You're not going anyplace," Satch told his friend last year. "You're only 95." "But I'm in a wheelchair now," Cousy said. "Cooz, that happens."

ESPN

Jorge Sierra: Russell Westbrook passed Kevin Johnson and Bob Cousy in playoffs assists for No. 19 in NBA history. He also moved ahead of Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton in steals for No. 27... and Clyde Drexler in scoring for No. 32. Big night for Russ.

bsky.app

Jorge Sierra: Rudy Gobert moved ahead of Kevin McHale in blocks last night. He's No. 31 all-time now. Also: Bradley Beal passed Bob Cousy in scoring for No. 105 in NBA history. Devin Booker moved past Jeff Hornacek and Antoine Walker for No. 134.

bsky.app

“Bob Cousy NBA champion” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Cousy, 96, played for the first six of the Celtics’ record 18 NBA championships, but the team didn’t give out rings back then. So even though he hasn’t played for the Celtics in more than 60 years, he was thrilled when the team presented him with a 2024 NBA championship ring on Monday. “I suppose it gives me late in life kind of bragging rights to this legacy that I helped start,” Cousy said.

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John Karalis: Bob Cousy in the house pic.x.com/F000Ri5UgT

Twitter

With 11,852 points scored through seven seasons, it’s expected that the five-time NBA All-Star will ultimately go down as one of the greatest Celtics ever. But without a title, Jayson Tatum knew he truly couldn’t be in the conversation amongst Celtics greats. While the 26-year-old isn’t satisfied with one ring and has a lot of hoop left, he felt like getting a title in Beantown finally gave him the ability to stand alongside Pierce, Garnett, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and other Celtics legends. “It was lot of weight. I’ve been close so many times,” Tatum said. “It felt like, ‘Damn, maybe this is not meant to be.’ Those thoughts creep into your mind. There was doubt in the toughest moments. But then on the flip side, I knew we were going to knock it down one day. It meant everything when we did it.”

Andscape

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama got a special message from Celtics legend Bob Cousy, who was born to French immigrant parents and grew up in a French speaking household. Cousy is still alive and despite his 95 years of age, he remains sharp and engaged with the basketball world. Bob sent a message through a source, letting Wemby know that he is admired for his great talent. “Tell him he will be the next Bill Russell and let him know that the first Frenchman in NBA history (Cousy), is watching him closely and with great attention.” #PorVida

EuroHoops.net

Celtics legend Bob Cousy turned 96 Friday and had a lot to say about US Olympic men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr not playing Jayson Tatum in Thursday’s critical 95-91 semifinal victory over Serbia in Paris. “This isn’t just a snub,” Cousy said from his Worcester home Friday morning. “This is an embarrassment for that poor kid all over the [expletive] world. The Olympics have gotten that big. Everyone’s going to think that there’s something wrong this this kid.”

Boston Globe

“Tatum is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month. 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. In a 40-minute game, if you can’t find five minutes to play somebody on the team without hurting yourself … “When Kerr did it last week, he was in no danger of losing the game, but in this case they got down by 17 points and he’s got to worry about losing the game. And then to not let Tatum get off the bench — to me, there’s got to be some kind of bias that he’s got against the Celtics. He’s not alone there.

Boston Globe