The New York Times bestseller Out of the greatest dynasty in
American professional sports history, a Boston Celtics team led by
Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, comes 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. But he has one last piece of unfinished business. 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.
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. 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. Cousy wishes he had defended Russell publicly, and that he
had told him privately that he had his back. At this late hour, he
confided to acclaimed historian Gary Pomerantz over the course of
many interviews, he would like to make amends. At the heart of the
story The Last Pass tells is the relationship between these two
iconic athletes. The book is also in a way Bob Cousy's last
testament on his complex and fascinating life. 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 legend exploded
nationally in 1950, his first year as a Celtic: he would be an
all-star all 13 of his NBA seasons. 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.
Cooz and Russ fit beautifully together on the court, and the
Celtics dynasty was born. To Boston's white sportswriters it was
Cousy's team, not Russell's, and as the civil rights movement took
flight, and Russell became more publicly involved in it, there were
some ugly repercussions in the community, more hurtful to Russell
than Cousy feels he understood at the time. The Last Pass situates
the Celtics dynasty against the full dramatic canvas of American
life in the 50s and 60s. It is an enthralling portrait of the heart
of this legendary team that throws open a window onto the wider
world at a time of wrenching social change. Ultimately it is a book
about the legacy of a life: what matters to us in the end, long
after the arena lights have been turned off and we are alone with
our memories. On August 22, 2019, Bob Cousy was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
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