The Dave Cowens Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Saturday, March 5th, 2005
You were drafted by the Celtics with the fourth overall pick in 1970, a
selection that proved to be another of Red Auerbach’s masterstrokes. Were
you aware that Bob Cousy and the Cincinnati Royals were hoping to land you
with the fifth overall selection?
Yes. As a senior in college I had an idea that the Royals were interested.
They needed a big man, and there was some early talk that it was going to
either be me or Sam Lacey. It was all speculation, just like it is today,
but I did have a pretty good idea both teams were looking at me. Prior to
my senior year I was asked to fill out questionnaires, which were used as
part of the scouting process. So you knew what teams were interested based
on who asked you to fill one out. But you have to remember that the draft
was much different back then – you didn’t have the hoopla surrounding it
like you do today. It wasn’t covered around the clock, and it wasn’t a
made-for-TV production like you have now. The ABA and the NBA were both
competing for the same talent, which meant you had this competition between
the leagues helping to drive up player salaries. That was one thing we had
working in our favor.
All the talk coming out of Boston had Red selecting Sam Lacey with the fourth pick. Bob had the fifth pick, and right up until the night before it looked like Lacey to the Celtics. That was Red’s bluff all along. He saw me play during my senior season and left the game at halftime to throw everybody off. He didn’t want anyone to think he was interested. That was classic Red.
Former Celtic great Frank Ramsey negotiated his first contract in the dugout
at Fenway Park. What was it like to talk contract with Red?
Back then you had the deal pretty much worked out, because the NBA wanted to
make sure that the ABA didn’t raid the top talent. The team assumed the
deal, the salary was agreed upon, and the contract got done. Perks were
negotiable – car stipends, things like that.
Agents typically took a 10% cut off the top, but I was able to get an agreement in place for 5%. Norm Blass, a New York-based attorney, took care of everything for me and negotiated the points of the contract. So it wasn’t like in the days when Frank played. Back then you didn’t have agents and there was no competition for your services. You look at a player like Bob Pettit, who was the league MVP in 1956 and 1959, and his highest annual salary was less than what I made during my rookie year. The older players held down other jobs after the season was over, and a lot of them ran basketball camps to help supplement their income. My camp was started thirty-two years ago for the very same reason. Players today don’t have to do that. They’re millionaires before they ever play a single minute in the NBA.
You were co-winner of the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 17.0 points
and 15.4 rebounds. Were you surprised at how quickly you became an impact
player in the NBA?
I
honestly didn’t know what to expect. I’d played up-tempo in high school and
college, and my conditioning was at a very high level. I was used to
pushing through various thresholds of pain and fatigue, even when other
players were having trouble. The league at that time suited my style
perfectly. When you watch an NBA game today, you’re lucky to see either
team break 100 points. It’s become a half court game. When we played it
was nothing to see a 130-128 score – today that’s unheard of. That gets
back to the up-tempo style of NBA basketball when I played. There was much
more ball movement – isolation plays just didn’t exist the way they do today
– and there was much quicker ball movement. The pace was just so much
different. You’d cross midcourt, there would be one or two passes, and then
the shot would go up. The strategy of running the play clock down to zero
wasn’t in vogue. Neither were the defensive schemes that you see now. We
played defense back then, but the league wasn’t as diluted as it is now.
You had better shooters, and players who were better at the fundamentals.
Part of the problem today has been league expansion and the influx of high
school players.
What was it like following the Bill Russell as the Celtics’ next great
center?
I
just went into it with everything I had. I played hard every night, gave
maximum effort and tried to do my best. You can’t replace a Bill Russell.
As a
rookie, you led the league in fouls. Was this the result of your incredible
intensity or an example of negative rookie calls, and did Satch Sanders ever
razz you about breaking his then-team record of fouls in a season?
I
led the team in fouls for three years [laughs]. I had the mentality that I
could guard anybody, and there were times when I’d be playing defense well
beyond the lane. Today’s best big men are Shaq and [Tim] Duncan. These are
really the only true centers who have a wide range of shots. You have to be
concerned with them on both ends of the court. When I played, there were
scoring big men on almost every team and it was always a challenge to stop
them. Bob Lanier, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, Bob Bellamy, Willis Reed –
every night it was a completely different style, a different matchup, but
all of these guys could score. That was the one constant.
The
Celtics played the Los Angeles Lakers three times during their
record-setting 33-game winning streak during the 1971-72 season. That team
was coached by former Celtic great Bill Sharman, and featured Wilt
Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. Please tell me about each of
these individuals and what it was like to battle the Lakers during “The
Streak”.
The
Lakers had a heck of a team for three or four years during that period.
They had great players at almost every position, but they also had great
depth. That was the big difference between them and everyone else. They
kept the pressure on their opponents in every game that season, and they
were practically unbeatable. To win 69 games and lose only 13 – and to win
thirty-three in a row – is a testament to the talent on that team. Wilt,
Gail and Jerry are all in the Hall of Fame, and these are still three of the
best ever at their positions.
Bill Sharman is a nice man, a true gentleman. I had a chance to play in a pickup game with him when he coached the LA Stars of the ABA. He was the perfect coach for the 1971-72 Lakers. He treated them like veterans, and they responded by playing like champions.
Wilt was one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Today, people talk about Shaq being an unstoppable force, but Wilt during that era was even more so. He was Rookie of the Year, a four-time league MVP, a Finals MVP, a two-time NBA champion – and that doesn’t even touch his 100 point game or his 50 point scoring average in the early sixties.
Gail played for Coach Wooden at UCLA, and helped the Bruins win their first two NCAA championships. He was left-handed, and he had a great shooting touch. A lot of people thought he was too small to play NBA basketball, but he was as tough as anybody on their team.
Jerry was the best pure shooter in the game. He scored all those points during the regular season, but he was even better during the playoffs. When you have players like these on your team, and you have great depth, then you’re going to be hard to beat. The Lakers were like that during the 1971-72 season.
