WORCESTER, Mass. – Nicknamed the “Houdini of the Hardwood,” 92-year-old Bob Cousy was immortalized by the City of Worcester, a place he has called home for more than 70 years.

Cousy, a 6-foot-1 skinny kid, came to the city in 1946 and became an NCAA All-American point guard for the College of the Holy Cross. He helped the Crusaders win the NCAA Tournament that year. After he helped lead the team to three more NCAA Tournament appearances, he moved on — to the NBA and the Boston Celtics. During his thirteen years in Boston, Cousy became a thirteen-time NBA All Star from 1950 to 1963, winning six NBA titles with the Green Team during that span. 

To honor the former Crusader, Worcester officials unveiled a new statue of Cousy at the DCU Center, wearing his white Boston home jersey emblazoned with the Celtics name and the now-retired number 14. The statue shows him dribbling several basketballs through his legs and around his back as if performing a motionless magic trick.

Cousy was born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, New York, where he attended high school. Despite these beginnings, he said it was an honor to call Worcester his home.

“Worcester has been my home and refuge,” Cousy said during his speech. “I love this city.”

Cousy finished his NBA career averaging 18.4 points per game and a total of 16,960 points. He ranks fifth on the Celtics all-time scoring list behind only John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. He also finished with 4,786 rebounds for a career average of 5.2 rebounds per game and a total of 6,955 assists (7.5 assists per game) to rank first in Celtics history. He was voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1957; he made All-NBA First Team (1952-1961) ten times, All-NBA Second Team (1962,1963) twice; and he led the NBA in assists eight straight seasons from 1953 to 1960. He was also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1971.

Following his retirement from basketball, Cousy published an autobiography, coached the Boston College men’s basketball team for several years, served as an assistant coach in the NBA and worked as a color analyst for Celtics games. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.

Along with Cousy’s two daughters, several local dignitaries were in attendance at the statue’s unveiling to honor the basketball legend: Governor Charlie Baker, Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Edward Augustus, Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, and former teammate Tom “Satch” Sanders. Cousy’s former broadcast partner, Mike Gorman, served as the emcee for the event.

“The thing that made him really special was that he was a better person than he was as a player, despite how great he was as a player,” Baker said to a round of applause.

Cousy has been affiliated with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program since 1951 and was recognized by the White House in 1956 as the Big Brother of the Year. He also spent his life as an advocate for social justice issues, focusing on the country’s responsibility to protect equality for Native Americans and persons of color. As a result of his work, he was the recipient of four honorary doctorates of humanities from Springfield College, Holy Cross, Becker College and Boston College.

“You are the most selfless, great champion ever, and I’m so grateful to spend these many years with you,” Grousbeck said. 

Cousy said he was honored by the entire ceremony.

“This is a proud moment for me. With this statue, this city honors me,” he said. “But today, I’m here to honor Worcester … Whatever I have given to it, it has given me much more.”