Dave Cowens Went To The Mat For The Boston Celtics And Won It All

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Dave Cowens Went To The Mat For The Boston Celtics And Won It All




Cowens shot and charged Boston to NBA crowns in 1974 and 1976. (AP)
Cowens shot and charged Boston to NBA crowns in 1974 and 1976. (AP)


MICHAEL MINK9:10 AM EST



For Dave Cowens, basketball came down to his three C’s: concentration, consistency, confidence.

“If you concentrate on any particular facet of your game, you become more consistent, and then that consistency leads to confidence,” Cowens, 67, told IBD. “Concentration means you’ve got to be thinking, you’re trying to get better, you’re problem solving.”

Besides his surname, he had plenty of other C’s in his arsenal.

Center: He was immensely skilled, though undersized at 6 feet 9 inches, 230 pounds. His relentless hustle and tenacity put an exclamation point on his playing days.

Celtics: He helped lead the Boston Celtics back to prominence and titles after Bill Russell retired.

Career: After 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“What 6-foot-9 center Dave Cowens lacked in size he made up for with an aggressive desire to win,” wrote the Hall’s website.

Cowens was never intimidated going up against much bigger titans such as Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Lanier.

“The media always played up the fact that I was 6-9,” Cowens said. “I really didn’t think it was that big of a disadvantage to be my size. I think there were some advantages to my skill set that I brought to the game over guys that were taller and bigger than me.”


Big Results

Cowens leveraged his ability to average 17.6 points and 13.6 rebounds per game while playing from 1970 to 1983, with a two-season gap toward the end of his career. As a center operating from the outside, he shot a solid 46% from the field. The epitome of an unselfish player, he also averaged almost four assists a game, high for a center.

Most important, Cowens spearheaded the Celtics to NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. In 89 playoff games, he averaged 18.9 points and 14.4 rebounds per game.

“Dave wanted to be the best player that he could be, but he wanted to win,” said former teammate Paul Silas. “His attitude about the game and winning was just so great.”

Cowens shares that mentality to people off the court: “Find something you really like to do, then do what you say you’re going to do and show up every day and work harder than anyone else. Those are qualities that you have to have if you ever hope to be successful.”

Another former teammate, Jo Jo White, said: “The great thing about David was he was always ready to go when it was time to play. He brought a ready-set-go that was different than any other player I ever played with, and it rubbed off on his teammates. The intensity he brought had a lot to do with guys playing on another level when they played with him. He’d be on the floor, diving for loose balls. That was Dave.”

Tom Heinsohn, who coached those 1974 and ’76 champion Celtics, said: “Dave’s most outstanding trait was his desire. When he put his mind to something, 100% of him went with it. He could be a ferocious player. He was a very competitive person.”

After his playing career, Cowens channeled that competitiveness to coach in the NBA, pushing the Charlotte Hornets to the 1997 and 1998 playoffs. He was also the last player-coach in the NBA, for the Celtics during the 1978-79 season.


Kentucky Rise

Born in Newport, Ky., Cowens lauds his parents for instilling in him a solid work ethic: give his full effort in whatever he undertook.

Cowens played basketball in his freshman high school year, but a conflict with his coach caused him to quit the team. While skipping his sophomore season, he shot up to 6 foot 6, leading a new coach to convince him to rejoin the squad for his junior year.

As a senior, Cowens led his team to a 29-3 record and drew a scholarship from Florida State University.

At 190 pounds, Cowens made a decision after his freshman year at FSU to put some muscle behind his continued growth. “I decided to go against what everyone else was telling me to do and start lifting weights for my upper body,” he said.

Weight training wasn’t recommended for basketball players then, as many thought it decreased flexibility, but Cowens felt he needed to be stronger to compete.

It paid off. With Cowens averaging 19 points and 17 rebounds per game in college on 52% shooting, the Seminoles improve each of his three varsity years, going 23-3 in his senior season.


Taking The NBA By Storm

The Celtics chose Cowens fourth overall in the 1970 NBA draft, impressed with his skills and dedication.

Boston was amid a rebuilding process. The Celtics had just dipped to 34 wins in their first season after the Russell dynasty, and Cowens helped turn them around. His 17 points and 15 rebounds per game helped lift the 1970-71 Celtics to 44 wins. He was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year alongside the Portland Trail Blazers’ Geoff Petrie.

Cowens was a vacuum for information, as he said in his Hall of Fame induction speech: “I’ve tried to learn from all the coaches and the teammates, not only how to improve as a player, but how to be a success as a person.”

For the next five years, the Celtics — with the nucleus of Cowens and fellow future Hall of Famers White and John Havlicek — averaged 59 wins per season and captured those two NBA titles.

“I thought he was a wild man,” Silas told NBA.com about Cowens. “I’d never seen anybody with that much talent play that aggressively.”

That even extended to practice, Silas told IBD: “Dave would make sure that everybody was practicing the right way, running and playing hard.”

Cowens was voted the NBA’s MVP for the 1972-73 season. He led the Celtics to a massive 68-14 record, tied for the second-most wins in NBA history at that time, while averaging 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds per game.

“I led through my example on the court; I really didn’t say too much,” Cowens said. “You play longer and harder than anyone else, and you push the envelope that way. By example, you show people they can do more than they think they can do. Anybody can say let’s do this, let’s do that. But to show it, that’s where I think the real leadership comes in.”


On Top Of The Heap

The Celtics returned to the NBA Finals in 1974, meeting the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. In Game 7, played in Milwaukee, Cowens came up big: 28 points and 14 rebounds as the Celtics bested the Bucks 102-87 for the crown.

For Boston’s 18 playoff games that spring, Cowens averaged 20.5 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

The Celtics were a forerunner of today’s NBA small ball, sans the three-point shot, which wasn’t part of the league. “Dave would run harder than almost any center in the league,” Silas said. “That was our game; we ran all the time.”

The Celtics also played scrambling, hard-nosed defense, anchored by Cowens.

“Dave was a tough, physical guy and used his body; he contested shots every time,” Silas said. “He was really tough. That was the reason he could play center at 6-9.”

Said Cowens: “I always related playing the center position as being the captain of the defense. You’re helping your teammates on top of your own job. They follow your lead on the defensive end.”

The Celtics returned to the Finals two years later, beating the Phoenix Suns in six games. In 18 playoff games that season, Cowens averaged 21 points, 16.4 rebounds (leading everyone), and 4.6 assists per game.

It always comes back to putting the work in, he said: “You’ve got to be fundamentally sound and respond when that situation calls for you. That’s where the preparation comes in. You’ve got to be paying attention, you’ve got to be concentrating. You have to care.”


Cowens’ Keys

Sparked the Boston Celtics to NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Overcame: Limited height at center.

Lesson: You can’t measure heart.

“To be a leader, you have to have a strong sense of self-assurance that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to win, and that you’re able to produce. People are going to follow that lead because this is what you’ve shown. You’ve led by example.”

So Said Cowens

“I never thought of myself as a superstar. … I represent the working class of the NBA.”

“You put the work in and learn what you can do. You learn how to get something done based on trial and error.”

“Have a good read on how to approach people. When you’re on a team, you’ve got to have a certain disposition, know how to talk to people and address them.”

“Give of your time and don’t forget the little guy.”



bob
MY NOTE:  What's odd about this article is that it is in Investors Business Daily, NOT a sports mag.


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He would have been made to order in this small ball pace and space era, plus he was such an animal on the boards and tenacious defender. He'd fit right in with AB and Smart and Crowder and those guys would be happy as hell to have him roaming the floor and knocking into bodies.

cowens/oldschool wrote:He would have been made to order in this small ball pace and space era, plus he was such an animal on the boards and tenacious defender. He'd fit right in with AB and Smart and Crowder and those guys would be happy as hell to have him roaming the floor and knocking into bodies.

Cow

with the way they blow the whistles these days..........he'd only been good for about 15 minutes a game, not counting suspensions. (Mike Newlin)

beat