The Bailey Howell Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, January 17th, 2005
In 1966, Red Auerbach sent Mel Counts to Baltimore in
exchange for a rugged, multi-talented All-Star named
Bailey Howell. What was it like coming to Boston, and
what do you remember most about that first season?
It
was a big thrill to go to a club with mediocre success
to a team that had won eight NBA championships in a
row. I got to play with players like Sam Jones, John
Havlicek and Bill Russell, which was very special for me
because they were such special people. The Celtics were
the defending champions when I arrived, but they were
aging together as a team. The key players were brought
in at roughly the same time, and the team always had the
last pick in the draft. That made it much harder to
bring young guys along, so Red offset this by making
trades to improve the team. Willie Naulls is a good
example of this. Don Nelson and Wayne Embry played for
the Celtics because of Red’s shrewdness.
Mel Counts was a backup center, a seven-footer who
couldn’t shoot from outside. And because Russell was
playing forty-eight minutes a game, Counts never got the
opportunity to play. Red used this to his advantage.
He had an unknown commodity, so he built Counts up in
the eyes of the Baltimore brass. There was a glut of
forwards on the team at the time, thanks to a trade with
New York, and there wasn’t really a center on the
roster. Johnny Kerr was at the end of his career, and
he was dealing with back problems. Bob Ferry wasn’t
really big enough to play center. So when the Bullets
traded Walt Bellamy to the Knicks just eight games into
the 1965-66 season, the team began to explore trade
opportunities. They decided to part with either a
Bailey Howell or a Gus Johnson in order to get their
center. It was a big break for me.
The great Bill Russell was your teammate during your
first three seasons in Boston. Please tell me about Mr.
Russell. How did he handle the dual roles of
player/coach?
It
was a very difficult job, without question, but he
handled it well. The team was getting up in years.
Philly was the up-and-coming team. The previous season
the Sixers had the better record, and then they set the
record for most wins. They had players like Wilt
Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham. And after
Philly beat us 4-1 in the playoffs, everyone from the
media to the fans was saying that the dynasty was over.
Boston was dead. But we still had Bill Russell, and
that was the biggest factor working in our favor. Great
players make the game easier for his teammates. Bill
did that. He was the greatest MVP that ever walked onto
the floor.
As a coach, Bill learned a lot that first year. He also
had a veteran team, which really helped, because the
players knew what it took to win a championship. I’m
not so sure it would have worked if he had a roster full
of younger players. He was able to win championships
those last two years, even though the team was
continuing to age, and even though the Celtics were
winning few games during the regular season. We were
48-34 in 1968-69, but we were able to win the games that
counted. Bill deserves a lot of credit for that.
It would be hard to find a greater guard than the
incomparable Sam Jones. Please tell me about the
incomparable Mr. Jones – what was it like to have him as
a teammate?
Sam
was a great person, a prolific scorer, and a complete
basketball player. He was also a big guard with a magic
touch. Whatever he did, he did well – whether is was
playing cards, basketball, or anything else for that
matter. Anyone who played with him knew that Sam was a
competitor and a winner. The Celtics had a lot of guys
like that.
Sam was at his most productive on the nights when the
Celtics needed him most. He was always a better player
in the big games – not because he was holding back at
other times, but because he loved to play under
pressure. He could raise his game when the stakes were
the highest. Sam Jones was a joy to play with.
In 1967, the Celtics had their streak of 8 consecutive
NBA championships snapped. Many experts thought that
Boston was too old to win another title, but in 1968
that’s exactly what happened. Please take me back to
that championship series against the Lakers. What was
it like for you to finally win an NBA championship?
It
was very satisfying. We won that ’68 title by beating
the Lakers in six games, the last of which was in Los
Angeles. That didn’t surprise me, because our road
record that year was outstanding. We took two of three
road games against Detroit in the first round of the
playoffs, three-of-four from Philly in the Eastern
Division Finals, and then two-of-three from the Lakers
to win it all. Philly had the best record in the league
again, with basically the same club that won the title
the year before, and we finished even farther behind
them in the standings. But we played better at the most
crucial times. We won Game 1, Game 5 and Game 7 in
Philly – in our minds, the team that presented the
biggest obstacle in winning it all. We were favored to
beat the Lakers, and we dominated them.
The next year Wilt was traded to Los Angeles. They
weren’t the same without him, and we beat the Sixers 4-1
in the opening round. New York was developing a really
good club at that time, with players like Willis Reed,
Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Dave DeBusschere and Bill
Bradley. They were the up-and-coming team, but we beat
them head-to-head and ended up facing the Lakers again
in the Finals.
