When Mel Counts joined the Boston Celtics as a rookie in the fall of 1964, he did so with the knowledge that he would probably never earn a starting position, and that his name might forever be a footnote to one of the greatest dynasties in the history of team sport.  Standing in line behind Bill Russell can do that to you.  Counts, drafted ninth overall in the first round of the 1964 NBA Draft, just ahead of future stars Willis Reed and Paul Silas, found his two-year stay in Boston to be both a blessing and a curse.  One the one hand, he was a member of a Celtic team that won eleven championships in thirteen seasons, a feat unmatched and still regarded as the standard-bearer for the four major North American sports.  On the other, Counts simply never got to play.  Russell was clearly at the top of his game, a phenomenal athlete who often competed the entire forty-eight minutes, a man driven to leave his mark in a way no other player had ever done before.  To many NBA fans, Counts remained a mystery, a lithe seven-footer who could seldom flaunt the talent that made him a two-time All-America selection at Oregon State University.  The legendary Red Auerbach ultimately used this to his advantage, shrouding Counts in so much secrecy that he could pry rugged forward Bailey Howell away from Baltimore in an even-up trade.  Bailey, of course, was an integral component on two Celtic championship teams, while Counts would go on to a fine, 12-year career with six different NBA franchises, including two stints with the Los Angeles Lakers.  That he would end up becoming on the league’s first true journeymen is of little consequence.  Counts, for all of his stops and travels, entered the NBA as Boston’s green giant, and to this day he remains proud of his time spent in a Celtic uniform.

"I've been blessed," Counts says, when asked about his bit-part in the Celtics’ dynasty.  "How many people can say that they've played with guys like Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and Satch Sanders?  How many can say that they’ve played on one of the greatest teams of all time?”

Born on October 16th, 1941, in Coos Bay, Oregon, Counts found himself drawn to the outdoors well before he developed a love for basketball.  Situated in Oregon’s Bay Area, and with the largest natural harbor between Seattle and San Francisco, Coos Bay offers hunting and fishing in equal abundance, and a young Mel Counts rarely missed an opportunity to indulge in his favorite pastimes.  He also enjoyed hiking with his father, whom he idolized, and who taught him how to appreciate nature.  In fact, Oregon’s picturesque outdoors was so all-consuming that Counts didn’t pick up a basketball until fourth grade – but when he finally did, he took to the sport quickly and dramatically, displaying a natural athleticism that clearly set him apart from other children his age.

The next several years would provide a solid foundation for Counts, as his coaches drilled into him the importance of basketball fundamentals.  They eschewed the fancy stuff, opting instead for clean, crisp passes, solid defense, and high-percentage shots.  Counts listened and learned, developing into the most accomplished cager in the history of Marshfield High School.  By then his height rivaled his prodigious basketball talent, making him so dominant in the low-post that college recruiters with no working knowledge of Oregon’s geography suddenly knew of Coos Bay and the area’s thriving lumber industry.  Naturally, offers poured in.  With no shortage of universities at his beck and call, Counts elected to play collegiate hoops for Oregon State and its legendary, hall-of-fame coach, Slats Gill.  Gill, who had taken the 1949 Oregon State team to the Final Four, would do so again in 1963 with Counts as the centerpiece of the Beaver attack.  And Counts, then a junior, would earn All-America honors for his efforts, a feat that he would repeat following his senior season.

There was little doubt that Counts would play professionally, but his date with the Boston Celtics would have to wait, as Oregon’s favorite son was selected to represent the United States in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.  Playing for another legendary coach, Hank Iba, Counts and his teammates shrugged off the underdog tag to finish 9-0, including a dominating 73-59 gold medal win over the previously undefeated Soviet Union.