The New York Times Bestseller Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret About to turn ninety, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment.
To Boston\'s white sportswriters it was.
Cooz and Russ fit beautifully together on the court, and the Celtics dynasty was born.
But even as Cousy\'s on-court imagination and daring brought new attention to the pro game, the Celtics struggled until Coach Red Auerbach landed Russell in 1956.
The legend exploded nationally in 1950, his first year as a Celtic: he would be an all-star all 13 of his NBA seasons.
As a sports story alone it has few parallels: An poor kid whose immigrant French parents suffered a dysfunctional marriage, the young Cousy escaped to the New York City playgrounds, where he became an urban legend known as the Houdini of the Hardwood.
The book is also in a way Bob Cousy\'s Last testament on his complex and fascinating life.
At the heart of the story THE Last PASS tells is the relationship between these two iconic athletes.
At this late hour, he confided to acclaimed historian Gary Pomerantz over the course of many interviews, he would like to make amends.
Cousy wishes he had defended Russell publicly, and that he had told him privately that he had his back.
But as the decades passed, Cousy blamed himself for not having done enough, for not having understood the depth of prejudice Russell faced as an African-American star in a city with a fraught history regarding race.
These teammates were basketball\'s Ruth and Gehrig, and Cooz, as everyone calls him, was famously ahead of his time as an NBA player in terms of race and civil rights.
The Last pass he hopes to throw is to close the circle with his great partner on those Celtic teams, fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell, now 84.
But he has one Last piece of unfinished business.
The New York Times Bestseller Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret About to turn ninety, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment
