The Gene Guarilia Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, September 26th,
2005
You played four seasons with the Celtics, winning four NBA championships.
Which championship is most meaningful to you, and why?
The
1963-64 season marked your last with the team, as the Celtics completed that
campaign by winning it's fifth consecutive championship. Two other
memorable events occurred that season; John Havlicek was selected out of
Ohio State, and an emotional "Bob Cousy Day" was celebrated on the last
regular-season playing date at the Boston Garden. Please tell me a little
about each of these men, and also about the unforgettable "We luv ya Cous!"
that rang down from the Boston Garden rafters.
Bob Cousy
Day – that was the first time I’d ever seen Bob Cousy cry. They gave him a
new car, and all kinds of elaborate things…like a television, which was a
big deal back them. That’s the first time I fully realized how important
Bob Cousy was to Boston.
Please
tell me about great battles between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
Russell
could always key himself up for a big game – and those games against Wilt
were always big, regardless of what was at stake. Wilt Chamberlain was
drafted the same year as me, in 1959, but he played with the Globetrotters
before joining the NBA. It seemed that Wilt was always the one with the
greater statistics, but Russell was the one who almost always came out on
top in the win column. You can’t argue with 11 championships in 13 years.
Russell was the greatest ever.
From an
offensive standpoint, Sam Jones was the go-to guy for the Boston Celtics.
Please tell me a little about Sam Jones.
I've
heard that you've become quite a musician since retiring from professional
basketball. What instruments do you play, and how did you get involved in
playing in a band?
Final Question: You’ve achieved great success in your life. You are
universally respected and admired by many people, both inside and outside of
the NBA. If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what
would that be?
I
think the one in 1962, when I held Elgin Baylor scoreless, was the most
meaningful to me. I say that because anytime you help your team win, then
you feel like you are a part of something special. And it was big for me to
come in like that and guard Baylor the way that I did. So that championship
probably means a little more to me than the others. I’ll never forget it –
all of the sportswriters came into the locker room, wanting to talk to Bill
Russell, who played the whole game, including the two overtimes. He said,
‘Today you’re interviewing the wrong guy…go over there – that kid over
there, Gene Guarilia, he’s the one that won it for us.’ So coming from
Russell, that made me feel pretty good…the man was responsible for 11
championships.
John
Havlicek was drafted Number 1 by the Celtics. We rented a house with Clyde
Lovellette in Brighton, Massachusetts. He was my roommate on the road.
Great guy. The only thing was that he was a health fanatic – you couldn’t
play the radio, you couldn’t watch TV…he had a window open all the way in
the middle of the winter [laughs]. Everything had to be quiet – he had to
get his rest. And if you went to a restaurant with him, it would take
forty-five minutes to eat a steak – he would trim every little piece of fat
off of it [laughs].
The
first time they ever played against each other was in Minneapolis. It was
benefit game - Ingemar Johansson was at the game; he was the new heavyweight
champion, because he’d just beaten Floyd Patterson. It was some kind of
fundraiser. Russell held Chamberlain to 16 points in that game. Obviously,
the Celtics won. That was the first of many battles between them. I’ll
never forget how cold it was – that has to be the coldest place in the
United States [laughs].
Sam
was a great shooter. He had a nickname – he was so fast that they called
him ‘Slippery Sam’. He was cat-like; he could run, jump and stop on a
dime. He was a fabulous basketball player
When
I was in college, in Washington, D.C., you only had to be eighteen years old
to get into a bar. I used to go down to a place called the Hay Loft. They
had great bands there. I really got interested in music just from listening
to the bands at that bar. I liked the bass guitar, bought one, and one of
the musicians showed me a few things about it. I’ve been practicing ever
since. I play the bass guitar and I sing in a band – we have a website, and
it is
http://www.cadillacsband.com. I sing a lot of Johnny Cash, Waylon
Jennings and Toby Keith. The band isn’t a country band, but we add those in
there as a change of pace.
I’m
a retired coach and teacher, and I’ve always told this to my kids – I
coached and I taught. There’s more to life than basketball. Education is
the most important thing in your life. If you’re an educated man, then the
possibilities are endless.