Sixty-three years separate them in age but, as Kyrie Irving and Bob Cousy sit knee-to-knee inside the Celtics’ pristine new training facility, two of the flashiest ball-handlers in team history quickly find a commonality.
“I was also a bit of a showoff,” Cousy joked after Irving heaped praise on Cousy's basketball accomplishments. To which a laughing Irving quickly replied, “Yeah, I heard. I get that a lot, too.”
The Celtics brought 90-year-old Cousy and 27-year-old Irving together earlier this season to compare career notes and swap stories about their time around the game of basketball. It served as the catalyst for the “Passing the Torch” special that debuts Thursday at 8:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Boston.
The half-hour show, which was produced by the Celtics and will also air on the team's social media channels, pairs a member of the 2018-19 team with a legend that preceded them. The special features three 1-on-1 conversations between Irving and Cousy; Jaylen Brown and Satch Sanders; and Marcus Smart and Danny Ainge.
The show is hosted by broadcast partners Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn and airs after NBC Sports Boston’s playoff preview special. Reruns of both shows play at the same time on Friday night.
You can also listen to the interviews as part of our Celtics Talk podcast here.
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Cousy is quick to shift the focus from himself to the success of his teams when Irving asked about his storied career. Cousy declares that “winning is what it’s all about in team sports.”
When Cousy recalls that he can’t even remember some of his career stat lines, Irving admits there are times when he gets too fixated on numbers.
“The generation now, I feel like even myself, I’ve become at times more stat-oriented and worried about self,” said Irving. “And you lose your sense of what a team looks like. And coming to the Boston Celtics, that was the overall energy and attitude that I got here, that you are a great player and you're capable of doing these things, just imagine if you’re a great player on a great team as well.”
Cousy details the rigors of sacrifice, as well as navigating some leaner years before Boston’s dynasty took flight. Cousy glows about Boston’s run of championships, suggesting it’s something that will never be accomplished again in team sports. Still, he has a request for Irving.
“You gotta bring a [championship] home for me,” said Cousy.
Sanders gets big laughs while detailing a particularly daunting training camp in which he arrived to find 22 fellow forwards competing for a roster spot ("Just do the best you can,” Red Auerbach told an overwhelmed Sanders). Brown and Sanders talk leadership and social issues. Brown stressed how important it is for him to use his platform because “the ball’s not going to bounce forever.”
The highlight of the show, however, might be Ainge and Smart, who gleefully swap notes on what it’s like to be booed on the road in the NBA. Smart quizzes Ainge about when he knew he was going to draft him, while Ainge playfully suggests he tried to prevent Smart from leapfrogging him for most career 3-pointers in Celtics history.
“I tried to trade you,” cracked Ainge, now the team’s president of basketball operations,” but the deadline passed.”
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