Bob Cousy was the first big star of the Boston Celtics –
despite the fact Red Auerbach didn’t want him.
Cousy was an All-American at Holy Cross in Worcester,
Massachussetts, and what few Celtics fans there were in 1950 really wanted the
Celtics to take him with the first overall pick. Boston coach Red Auerbach
though called Cousy a “local yokel” and took Chuck Share of Bowling Green.
Cousy went to the Tri-City Blackhawks with the third pick.
The Blackhawks traded Cousy to the Chicago Stags after the draft. The Stags
though folded before the season started and only then did Boston pick up his
rights. It turned out to be a pretty good deal. Cousy would go on to lead the
league in assists in eight straight seasons beginning in 1952-1953. He also
would average more than 20 points per game in four seasons and 18.4 for his
career despite the fact he was an awful shooter. His 37.5 percent shooting
percentage for his career was low even for that day.
Despite the low shooting percentage, Cousy had solid PER
numbers for a point guard. His PER topped 20.0 the first six seasons of his
career.
The Celtics quickly became winners with Cousy. Boston would
make the playoffs every year Cousy was on the team, but they didn’t become
champions until Bill Russell joined the team. The Celtics won the NBA title in
six of Cousy’s final seven seasons. Cousy led the NBA in playoff points per
game three times and playoff assists eight times.
Cousy ended up winning 66 percent of his regular season games
and 58 percent of his playoff games.
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Bob Cousy
bio info
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Career
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1950-1970
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Games
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924
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Points
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18.4
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Rebounds
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5.2
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Assists
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7.5
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FG Pct.
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37.5%
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All-Star games
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12
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NBA MVPs
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1
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NBA titles
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6
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Playoff seasons
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13
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Playoff games
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109
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Points
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18.5
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Rebounds
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5.0
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Assists
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8.6
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FG Pct.
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34.2%
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Hall of Fame
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1971
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Top 100
rankings
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Points
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Top 100 ranking
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1-year
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338.16
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47th
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5-year
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1,517.80
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35th
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10-year
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2,840.33
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29th
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Career
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3,476.40
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33rd
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Bob Cousy
at his peak
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1956-1957
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Cousy
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Top 5
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Points
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PER
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21.0
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24.85
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Win Shares
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8.8
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12.10
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Box +/-
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NA
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NA
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VORP
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NA
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NA
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Total Advanced Stats
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29.8
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36.94
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80.67
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Playoff PER
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17.1
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22.42
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Win Shares
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1.2
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1.39
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Box +/-
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NA
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NA
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VORP
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NA
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NA
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Total Advanced Stats
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18.3
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23.81
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76.86
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Reg. Season Win %
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64.06
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64.06
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Playoff Win %
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70.00
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70.00
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MVP Voting (75 points)
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23/80
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21.56
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Playoff MVP (25 points)
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25
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25.00
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Total Score
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338.16
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Cousy’s 10 greatest seasons
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1956-1957
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338.16
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1958-1959
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304.00
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1955-1956
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298.75
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1960-1961
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293.97
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1952-1953
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282.92
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1959-1960
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272.59
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1951-1952
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271.73
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1957-1958
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267.27
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1954-1955
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264.20
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1961-1962
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246.21
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Career
winning percentage
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W
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L
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Pct.
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Regular Season
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606
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318
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65.58%
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Playoffs
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63
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46
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57.80%
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