Yesterday the 93 year old NBA hall of famer and Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy was a trending topic on social media. My initial fear was that he had passed away, as is often the case when celebrities of his tenure are trending. Luckily, the man known as “The Houdini of the Hardwood” was still alive. But Cous was certainly trending for another unsual reason.
Former NBA player and current ESPN Analyst JJ Reddick had got into a heated debate with Stephen A. Smith, host Molly Qerim, and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo surrounding the legacy of Chris Paul. Russo’s argument was that Paul was not in the elite upper eschelon of point guards. Within this argument, Russo claimed simultaneously that he ranked Bob Cousy over Paul. You can watch JJ vehemently defend his era here:
I could not help but laugh at Stephen A.’s reaction, as well as Qerim’s “shots fired” comment. Reddick wasn’t wrong, and quite frankly it was funny. But what exactly did he mean by this? Well, Cousy played in the 1950’s, the 60’s and some of the early 70’s. Reddick played in the post-Jordan, in the Kobe-Duncan-LeBron era. Reddick faced some college players who could be NBA legends during Cousy’s time.
Cousy also played in one of the least diverse versions of the NBA given the historical exclusion of African Americans and people of color from most spaces at this time. Very few Black Americans played in Cousy’s NBA. Today’s league is also filled with a gamut of players from other countries inlcuding (but not limited to): Canada, Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, Nigeria, Cameroon, Australia, and more.
What JJ was saying is something I’ve always beleieved about athletic competiton: as time goes on the game is more fierce. Some AAU teams today could likely compete with college teams of the 50’s and 60’s. Biomechanics, technology, and medical advancements also aid the ability for today’s stars to be more competitive. This is the same argument made by LeBron fans in the debate against Jordan.
But Bob Cousy ain’t no simp either y’all. There was a reason why they called this man “Houdini.” His game was magical, especially for the time period. Some of Cousy’s best passes paved the way for elite passers of my lifetime like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, John Stockon, Kyrie Irving, and more. Celtics stans and sports historians alike also attribute the crossover to Cousy.
Check out his highlight tape caught in whatever the equivalent to 4K was in the 50’s:
What I find most impressive about Cousy’s game: his ability to read his teammates movements ahead of time. In many ways, Cousy was the architecht of some of our favorite passes we’ve seen by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, or even Steph Curry and Chris Paul.
Point blank: “Houdini” was a pioneer of the court kings.
JJ isn’t wrong to a point. We all know Bob Cousy’s 6 championships likely would be harder to replicate in the modern NBA. But let’s not forget Bob Cousy did win all 6 of his rings with NBA 11x champion Bill Russell. Let’s not pretend Cousy wasn’t a league MVP or 13x NBA all star either.
While there certainly were “plumbers and fireman” on the court, not everyone was a scrub, and the shoes these guys played in sucked.