On this day, legendary Boston point guard Bob Cousy was born in Manhattan.
Today in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame point guard Bob Cousy was born in Manhattan, New York City. Cousy played his collegiate ball at Holy Cross, where he won an NCAA championship in 1947. For whatever reason, he was a player iconic team president Red Auerbach wanted nothing to do with in the NBA draft. But Cousy ended up becoming a Celtic anyway after being taken by the team in the (defunct) Chicago Stags dispersal draft. The Manhattan native was named to 13 consecutive All-Star teams with Boston, which of course changed the mind of Auerbach on having Cooz (as the former Holy Cross guard is called as a nickname) around.
In 1957, Cousy would win the first of six NBA championships with the Celtics, including a Finals MVP that postseason season. He led the NBA in assists between 1953 and 1960 and made a dozen All-NBA first or second teams while playing for Boston. Cooz retired in 1963 at age 34 (he would briefly come out of retirement to be a player-coach for the Kansas City Royals -- now Sacramento Kings), and was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.
He remains a part of the organization to this day, working as a marketing consultant for the team.
Other birthdays include former Celtics center Joel Anthony and ex-Celtic guard Carlos Arroyo. Joel Anthony was born this day in 1982 in Montreal, Canada, and played his NCAA basketball for UNLV. He played for the Miami Heat before joining the team in a three-team deal that sent MarShon Brooks and Jordan Crawford to the Golden State Warriors. The former Runnin' Rebel would play 21 games for the Celtics in the 2013-14 season, averaging 1 point and 1.5 rebounds per game.
Arroyo was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on this date in 1979, and played for Florida International University at the college level. Boston would be the last stop of his career, with whom he signed as a late-season addition in 2011. Arroyo logged 2.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists over 16 games with the team.
The players share their birthday with former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, who was born today in 1977 in Portland, Oregon. Udoka played college ball at USF and Portland State, and latched on to the Los Angeles Lakers after spending time in the D League (as the G League was called then).
The Portland native also played for the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings before finishing his playing career with the San Antonio Spurs. There, he would make the leap to assistant coaching, winning a title with San Antonio in that role in 2014, and also had stops with the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets. Udoka and the Celtics would part ways after only one season after the coach had an inappropriate workplace relationship
It is also the date former Celtics center Glen Davis re-signed with Boston on a two-year, $6.5 million contract. Davis had come to the team in the trade that brought Ray Allen to the team in 2007 and played four seasons for the club, winning a title with them in 2008. He averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 points per game while with Boston.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics history: Cousy, Anthony, Arroyo, Udoka born; Davis re-signs
Category: Basketball
