Cousy: His Life, Career, and the Birth of Big-Time Basketball

by Bill Reynolds

In Cousy, His Life, Career, and the Birth of Big-Time Basketball, veteran sportswriter Bill Reynolds - with the full cooperation of Bob Cousy - reveals the man often called "the Babe Ruth of basketball," the dazzling athlete who brought "showtime basketball" to the NBA and changed the game forever. Bob Cousy, the originator of the behind-the-back dribble and the no-look pass, joined the Boston Celtics in 1950, when the fledgling NBA was still competing with rodeo and professional wrestling for column inches in the sports pages. When Cousy retired thirteen years later, the NBA had joined baseball and football as a premier American entertainment. This portrait not only recounts Cousy's record-breaking career but also reveals the superstar's little-known personal life - from his impoverished childhood in New York City, when he was ironically cut from his high school basketball team in both his freshman and sophomore years to his eventful life after his playing career, when he coached Boston College and the Cincinnati Royals in the NBA. Readers will discover the mind of a man so tortured by the fear of failure that he had recurring nightmares, walked in his sleep, and developed a nervous tic.

Genres: Basketball, Sports

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Bill Reynolds is a sports columnist for The Providence Journal and the author of several previous books, including Fall River Dreams and (with Rick Pitino) the #1 New York Times bestseller Success Is a Choice. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island."

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Reynolds is always good... proud Rhode Islander... 'Cousy' is his best... basketball, racism, mental health... a vivid picture of a complicated man... 'cool cucumber' on the outside, anything but...now denounces qualities that brought success... stress...best thing I've read on Russell/Cousy... great chiefs in a dominant tribe... common goal... coaches book ... a busy and open mind with traditional foundations.. Cooz...

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

enlightening read about basketball's golden age and one of its most talented players.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reynolds writes for the Providence Journal. Good bio. Brought back fond memories of when I thought basketball was the end-all.