![]() ![]() The debate about how stars of past eras stack up to players in the modern NBA will never go away, and it's true that today's stars are more athletic and more talented in many ways.īut the best way to measure success is to compare a player to those he played against, and in that regard, Cousy certainly stands out: He led the NBA in assists in eight consecutive seasons from 1953 to 1960 while earning 13 All-Star nods, 10 First-Team All-NBA appearances and six NBA titles. "We must have had the best firemen and plumbers on the planet," Cousy said. Redick’s comments about Cousy playing against “plumbers and firemen” with and /D4x9TVmvlD- SiriusXM NBA Radio May 19, 2022Ĭousy then went on to list several other Hall of Famers who starred during his era, from Elgin Baylor to Oscar Robertson to Jerry West to his Celtics teammates, Heinsohn and John Havlicek. I guess he must have fought fires as well." Wilt Chamberlain, remember that guy? He wasn’t bad. And I’ll just give you a few of the names of these firemen that I played with and against during those years. "I won’t do that, but I will defend the firemen and the plumbers that (Redick) referenced. ![]() "So when you respond to something like this, you play into their hands. "People with less talent will always try to make a name for themselves by criticizing other people and hopefully getting some attention and perhaps increasing their credibility," Cousy said. Which is exactly what happened when the 93-year-old Celtics legend went on SiriusXM NBA radio this week. (Celtics icon Tommy Heinsohn sold life insurance, for example.)īut if you're Cousy, you'd probably take exception to Redick's remarks. There's some truth to Redick's comments: The level of competition in the NBA has increased dramatically over the last 50 to 60 years, and many players in Cousy's era actually did work second jobs. But I’ll take Redick rejuvenating some competitive spirit in a 93-year-old Hall-of-Famer.Getting ready for 2 rounds of storms on Friday in Boston Obviously it’s tough to compare the 1950s NBA with today’s players who have so much more training and resources. It’s kind of cool to have an older player respond and defend his generation of basketball. And I was very proud to play with all of them.” We must have had the best firemen and plumbers on the planet at the time. Redick maybe went a tad overboard, but the point is right there. Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, I could go on and on. He was being guarded by plumbers and firemen.' JJ Redick, ESPN. Jones, a guy named “Hondo” Havlicek wasn’t too bad. “A couple of point guards that weren’t too shabby, my colleague who also had an award created, guy named Oscar Robertson, who was pound for pound the best player perhaps in the game. “Still the best, in my judgment, small forward that ever played the game, a guy named Elgin Baylor,” Cousy continued. Cousy made a comeback during the 1969-70 season for seven games, serving as player-coach of the Cincinnati Royals. But he had a place on a team because of his ability to shoot the ball. The only reason I’m talking about him is he was not an elite player. Redick after the latter downplayed Cousy and other players of his generation’s greatness because they played against inferior competition. 'JJ certainly wasn’t going to guard the elite players. Hall of Famer and Celtic great Bob Cousy fired back at retired baller and current ESPN First Take analyst J.J. The 93-year-old Cousy is a six-time NBA champion with the bulk of his career spanning from 1950-63. Redick for ‘Plumbers and Fireman’ Comment. ![]()
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