WORCESTER – At age 95, Bob Cousy usually goes to bed by 8 p.m., but on Monday night he stayed awake long enough to watch the entire game as the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA championship.
“First time I’ve been up after 11 in years,” the Celtics legend said Tuesday in a telephone interview from his west side home. “I stayed until the end. I even watched a little bit of the celebration.”
So he got to see Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, also a Worcester native, become the first one to hoist the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy during the postgame celebration on the Garden parquet.
Cousy was glad he stayed up.
“At age 95, everything that happens in your life,” Cousy said, “is kind of crystalized. It’s more meaningful because you know you may not experience it again.”
Cousy had predicted the Celtics would beat the Mavs in four or five games and he didn’t expect Game 5 at the Garden to be very competitive. The Celtics proved him right, mauling the Mavs, 106-88, on Monday.
“I didn’t need 70 years of experience to make those predictions,” he said. “That was an easy call.”
The Celtics captured their 18th NBA championship, breaking a tie with the arch-rival Lakers for most in NBA history.
“That’s significant,” Cousy said. “Since 1960, they’ve been our rival and we’ve had a healthy competition with them. So it’s nice to be No. 1 again.”
Cousy’s Celtics went 3-0 against the Lakers in NBA Finals, prevailing in 1959 and in Cousy’s final two seasons, 1962 and 1963.
Cousy added that the Celtics have reestablished themselves as the most significant basketball team in the world.
“Other than Caitlin Clark’s team,” he said with a laugh.
Cousy, the NBA’s first true point guard, helped the Celtics win their first six titles and played for the first five of what turned out to be eight championships in a row.
“In six championships that we shared we didn’t do that much celebrating,” he said. “Obviously things are different today and thank goodness they are. It’s good for the NBA, it’s good for the sport and it’s good for people who sign $375 million contracts. So I’m glad that the child’s game that I helped set the table for has reached this level.”
Cousy is the only one left from the Celtics first championship team in 1957 when he was voted NBA MVP. He’s also the only one left from the Holy Cross NCAA championship team a decade earlier.
Cousy was an All-Star in each of his 13 Celtics seasons, a member of the All-NBA first team 10 times and of the second team twice. He led the league in assists eight years in a row. Only he, Bill Russell, George Mikan and Bob Pettit were selected to each of the 25th, 30th, 50th and 75th NBA anniversary teams.
The Celtics won 64 regular-season games this year and posted a franchise-best 16-3 record in the playoffs. So where does this Celtics team rank among the franchise’s 18 championship teams? Cousy should know. In addition to playing for them, he served as a color commentator for the Celtics for 35 years through their previous NBA championship season in 2008. The Celtics gave him a championship ring after winning that 2008 title.
“I agree with [broadcaster] J.J. Redick that today’s player physically and shooting skills or whatever, is so far advanced from our group 70 years ago,” Cousy said. “So you’ve got to factor that in when they start asking, ‘Who was the best?” Were Bird and McHale better than Russell, Cousy and whoever? We demonstrated a dominance at our level at that point in time that has never been demonstrated before or since, but that doesn’t mean our team could beat today’s team. I wouldn’t say that. Today’s player is much better. I mean, I didn’t dunk. Now they jump over the backboard.”
Cousy’s daughter, Ticia, and son-in-law Randy Brooks take him to Worcester Country Club on Thursdays so he can get together with friends, but he doesn’t leave his Worcester home often. However, he said if the Celtics ask him to take part in a championship celebration, he’d try his best to be there.
“They won’t get me on those duck boats,” he said. “I can’t handle that. But if they have a flag raising (ceremony) and ask me to be involved, I would say yes.”
However, he said he would want his former Celtics teammate and fellow Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Tom Sanders, 85, and his friend, Gov. Maura Healey, to be invited as well.
Such banner ceremonies don’t traditionally take place until the start of the following season, but Cousy said he’d like to see it be held “sooner rather than later” at his age. He’ll turn 96 on Aug. 9.
“I don’t want to be morbid about this,” he said, “but I had my teeth cleaned a few days ago and I said to the lady going out, ‘All right, I’m going to be an optimist. Book me in six months.’”
Cousy didn’t agree with the criticism of Jayson Tatum for not scoring as much in the NBA Finals until Game 5 as he did during the regular season.
“(Dallas coach Jason) Kidd is hitting him with a trap every time, sometimes even before he gets the ball,” Cousy said. “I think he’s done a good job. That’s what opens up the opportunities for (Jrue) Holiday and (Derrick) White.”
That doesn’t mean that Cousy liked every shot that Tatum took. Cousy has never been a big fan of taking as many 3-pointers as the Celtics do. So there were times when Cousy yelled at his television, “Don’t take that shot.” Half the time, Tatum sank those shots, Cousy pointed out.
NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown earned Cousy’s respect as well.
“He has made strides this year,” Cousy said. “I think he’s touching more bases. I think he’s more careful with the ball. His rebounding, his defense. I think he’s improved his game this year. Tatum was already at the top of his game. I don’t think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
Cousy was also impressed with Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, whom he ranked as the best defensive backcourt in the NBA.
“They pretty much made Kyrie (Irving) irrelevant,” he said.
However, he wasn’t surprised that the Celtics lost Game 4 at Dallas because he said players would rather win a championship in front of their home crowd.
Cousy said he doesn’t know Celtics coach Joe Mazzula personally, but he believes he did a great job this season.
“Based on the results, I would give him an A,” Cousy said. “Although I shouldn’t be judging him. I’m a beached whale. I can’t get off my (butt). I haven’t been to a game. I have no idea of the mentality of today’s player and what exists between them and the coach. I like his body language better though. He’s finally somehow reached the conclusion that you’ve got to call timeouts at the appropriate times, certainly to break momentum.”
The Celtics made Cousy proud.
“Last night, that was special for me,” he said.
The Celtics are already favored to win the NBA championship again next season.
“I’ll be surprised if they’re not in the mix,” Cousy said, “but it is difficult these days to repeat. There are so many distractions.”
Bill Doyle has been a professional journalist for 47 years, most of them as a sports writer for the Telegram & Gazette. He covered the Boston Celtics for 25 years and has written extensively about golf, boxing and local high school and college sports. He also worked for the campus newspaper when he attended UMass-Amherst. He can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
