Cs legend Bob Cousy stops by for a much-needed pep talk
It doesn't hurt to have legends on speed-dial when your team could use a pep talk.
And that's exactly what happened at Tuesday's practice at the new Boston Celtics facilities at Boston Landing; Hall of Fame Celtics guard Bob Cousy came by, and imparted some wisdom to the contemporary iteration of the team he lead to six titles.
Cousy has been in contact with coach Brad Stevens almost since he walked through the door of the old facilities, writing letters every spring to check in on his old team. Said Stevens of the letters (per NBC Boston's Chris Forsberg):
"Just ridiculous when you get a letter from Bob Cousy, and then you see it’s from Worcester. It’s kinda like it’s not real. [...] And then you read the letters, and you hear more about his reading, and his writing, and how much time he spends doing that. How much personal letters mean to him. And you pinch yourself."
And it's not just the Celtics writ large that motivate Cousy to keep that connection; a former coach himself, at Boston College and in the NBA with the then-Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings), Bob admires Brad's work (again, per Forsberg, from the embedded podcast):
"After each season, I have dropped him a note just congratulating him because, in my judgment, the basic criteria for a successful coach on any level of team sports is to simply get the most out of the materials you have to work with [...] Each year, I just congratulate him on what the team has accomplished that year and said, ‘Brad, I don’t know if they are going to give you the Coach of the Year award, but I want you to know that you’ve got Bob Cousy’s coach of the year award."
So, this surprise visit meant a lot to all involved, most especially Brad and Bob, but Cooz's visit made impressions on the players, too, like Terry Rozier (per the Boston Celtics' Taylor Snow):
"It was just great to hear him talk and share his stories of how things were so much different back then, [...] This organization, we’ve just got so much behind it. You know, we’re not just playing for the names on the back; we’re playing for the name on the front. We’ve got a lot to represent."
Stevens shared the sentiment; (again, per Snow):
"I've said this many times before, that it’s one thing to have all those banners hanging above you, but when those guys come in and they’re at a game or at practice or whatever, you just kind of say, ‘Man, we have a lot of responsibility for the uniform we’re putting on."
Hopefully the talk did a little to put some vigor in the veins of a largely lackadaisical team clearly in need of a little motivation to untap their considerable potential.
With their next game coming against the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday at eight p.m. EST, they'll be needing it.
We still love ya, Cooz.
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