The Dynasty and Me

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The Dynasty & Me



'Jungle Jim' Loscutoff's wife recalls trials, tribulations of life with Auerbach, Russell and the beginning of Celtics dynasty






Remembering the good and bad
Lynn Loscutoff stands next to the famous Red Auerbach statue at Quincy Market in Boston. The wife of former Celtic's star Jim Loscutoff had many battles with the former Celtic's coach during the early championship years. She recounted these memories in a book call "Loscy & Me."


Posted: Sunday, April 5, 2015 12:30 am
By Bill Burt bburt@eagletribune.com



Lynn Loscutoff didn’t plan to write a book about one of the greatest dynasties in American professional sports history.

But after five-plus decades of venting about the storied Boston Celtics, it just sort of happened.

Now her memories, her feelings (good and bad) and, of course, her tales of winning are chronicled in a book she penned, “Loscy & Me: The Artist and the Boston Celtics Legend, Jim Loscutoff.”

Lynn, 80, and Jim Loscutoff, 84, have been married for 60 years. For the last 51, they’ve lived in Andover, just a few feet away from the picturesque Harold Parker State Forest.

“I wanted to vent,” says Lynn, who with her husband splits her time between Andover and Naples, Fla. “I started getting serious about 30 years ago, with me making notes. Sometimes I’d write things down. After a few decades, I realized I had something pretty good, I believed.”

In the memoir, Lynn tells the story of the players’ “wives” and their journey, of how they supported their men and, more often, one another.

She recounts off-the-court stories from the early years of the Celtics dynasty, focusing on the era from 1955 to 1964 when her famous husband played for the Green and was part of seven championship teams.

Nicknamed “Jungle Jim” and “Loscy,” he averaged only 6.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. But Jim Luscutoff’s role as an enforcer and protector for teammate Bill Russell (11 titles in 13 years) earned him a place in coach and general manager Red Auerbach’s heart.

So much so, that his nickname — “Loscy” — was retired and raised to the rafters of the old Boston Garden, part of the banner emblazoned with the numbers of other Celtics legends. Loscutoff’s own number, 18, wasn’t retired at the time because it was being worn by star center Dave Cowens.



bob



.

Should be an interesting read.  The only time I met Jim was at a Las Vegas restaurant well after he had retired.  A very nice guy off the court.

To give an idea of the skimpy media coverage of NBA basketball in those days, when Jim was signed, there were only three facts that I saw released about him:

1. He graduated from Oregon.

2. At "only" 6' 5" he could jump so high that his elbow could touch the rim.

3. He loved borscht.

Sam