Every NBA team’s greatest point guard of all time

Boston Celtics — Bob Cousy

1950-1963
18.4 points per game
7.6 assists per game
5.2 rebounds per game

Bob Cousy is one of the original greats in the NBA. He was selected with the third-overall pick in the 1950 NBA Draft but a team named the Tri-City Blackhawks. They literally moved to Milwaukee one-year later, and they made another stop in St. Louis before moving to Atlanta and changing their name to just the Hawks.

Anyway, Red Auerbach had the first-overall pick, and Cousy was a star at the nearby Holy Cross. However, Auerbach said he wasn’t going to draft someone to appease the “local yokels” and he took center Charlie Share. The story of Cousy ending up on the Celtics is fascinating. He was sent to Chicago after he refused to report to Tri-Cities when they wouldn’t pay him $10,000. The Chicago team folded, and Cousy was one of three players made available. Three teams would be splitting these three players, and the Celtics literally said they wanted anyone but Cousy. Well, they got Cousy.

It was the best thing that could have happened to the Celtics. Cousy made 13 straight All-NBA teams. He quickly became one of the best point guards in the league for more than a decade. He led the league in assists multiple times, and he was a great scorer at the same time. Leading the league in assists eight years in a row is one thing but doing while also scoring between 18 and 22 points every season puts the superstar status on him.

Cousy was eventually paired with Bill Russell, one of the best players of all time. This led to the Boston Celtics’ first dynasty. He won the league MVP in 1957, the first year Russell entered the league. He retired at the age of 34 as one of the most beloved Boston athletes of all time.