| Palm Beach Post
When NBA Hall of Famer Bob Cousy was told over the phone last month he could receive his coronavirus vaccine, the person on the other end of the line could not reveal who facilitated the shot. Cousy, 92, had not asked for help and was fine trying to navigate the process on his own.
But Cousy, who won six NBA titles with the Boston Celtics, is old friends with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the preeminent scientist in the nation’s fight against COVID-19. About two hours before getting the news about the vaccine, Cousy had spoken to Fauci on the phone.
When asked if Fauci played a part in getting him the vaccine, Cousy was his usual straight-talking, self-effacing self: “Tony is busy saving the freakin’ world every day,” Cousy told The Palm Beach Post. “I can’t imagine.”
Bob Cousy’s ex-teammate John Havlicek’s second career took him to Palm Beach County and Bear Lakes Country Club
Cousy, who has lived in West Palm Beach for 35 years but this winter remained at his home in Worcester, Mass., said the only time the vaccine came up in their conversation was when Fauci asked if he had received it. Cousy told him he had not but he was not worried about it and his daughter was working on it.
“I wasn’t concerned but I simply answered his question and that was the extent of it,” Cousy said. “He didn’t say anything further.”
Cousy’s friendship with Fauci goes back 30 years. The two have at least two things in common: They were both point guards in basketball and graduates of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, about an hour west of Boston.
The difference is the 6-foot-1 Cousy went on to become the third overall pick in the NBA draft in 1950, the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1957 and a 13-time NBA All-Star.
Fauci captained his basketball team at Regis High School in New York City and thought about walking-on at Holy Cross in 1958 but decided against it. Here is how Cousy sums up Fauci’s career:
“At 5-5, he didn’t quite make the Holy Cross team. But he did better than that, he’s saving the world.”
Fauci: ‘When I was a point guard in school, Bob Cousy was my’ hero
But Fauci, 80, wanted to be the next Bob Cousy, telling Dan Diamond on Politico’s Pulse Check Podcast last summer, “When I was a point guard in school, Bob Cousy was my absolute hero.”
Said Cousy: “He’s being a gentleman.”
Cousy, though, says there’s a big difference between dishing out assists on the basketball court and dishing out life-saving information while becoming the calming voice during a global pandemic.
“For the last 30 years, on a few occasions when I was being interviewed, sometimes people would say, ‘Who are your heroes?’ ” Cousy said. “I would say Dr. Anthony Fauci and they’d look at me like, ‘what the hell is a Dr. Anthony Fauci?’
“Well, now the whole world knows who Dr. Anthony Fauci is.”
Fauci, who had a tumultuous relationship with former President Donald Trump as his adviser on the COVID-19 pandemic, is now the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden while also serving as director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“When he called me, I said, ‘Tony, you’re getting more exposure than the Pope,” Cousy said. “Why don’t you run for president?’ He said, ‘Cooz, don’t wish that on me, please.’ ”
As for how Cousy got the vaccine, no one’s saying.
The person who called Cousy works for the Worcester City Manager. That person would not tell Cousy who was behind him getting the Moderna vaccine. Cousy said the city received a call from “a little bird” saying Cousy had not received his vaccine. Cousy asked who the little bird was and was told, “I can’t tell you who the little bird is because of who the little bird is.”
Cousy received his first vaccine at the Worcester Senior Center on Feb. 8. His second dose is scheduled for Wednesday. He returned to his home in Worcester last spring and hopes to come back to West Palm Beach next month.
“I saw my first snowflake in 35 years this year,” he said. “It was exciting.”
Bob Cousy’s close relationship with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia
But Cousy has another candidate in this vaccine mystery. Cousy is close friends with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). It was Manchin who lobbied for then-president Donald Trump to award Cousy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he did in August 2019.
“Joe is another potential because four months ago he said to me ‘Cooz, don’t worry about the vaccine, I’ll take care of you,’ ” Cousy said. “I said, ‘Joe worry about West Virginia. Don’t worry about me.’
“So, I put him in the mix.”
About a month ago, Manchin called back and asked Cousy if he had been vaccinated. Cousy told him he had not, but, again, told him he was OK.
“I wasn’t worried because the quarantine is nothing different for me,” Cousy said. “I’ve been quarantining for seven years since my wife passed. I don’t have any social life. I’m not at risk so I don’t worry about it.”
Bear Lakes golf buddies Bob Cousy, John Havlicek offer thoughts on Miami Heat, NBA’s early days
Manchin and Cousy became friends through a mutual friend. Cousy believed he was going to receive the Medal of Freedom under former President Barack Obama. Instead, Cousy’s former teammate Bill Russell and other NBA greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan were first in line and Cousy was still waiting when Trump won the presidency in 2016.
Manchin stepped in, telling Cousy, “Trump needs me from time to time and the next time he calls my number I will hand-deliver your portfolio to President Trump.”
Trump awards Medal of Freedom to Robert Cousy
President Donald Trump presented basketball legend Bob Cousy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in an Oval Office ceremony on Thursday. (Aug. 22)
AP, AP
Cousy was bumped by Tiger Woods for the Medal of Freedom
But Cousy was bumped again, this time by golfing great Tiger Woods after Woods’ stirring victory at the Masters in April 2019. Finally, Cousy was called to the White House in August of that year.
“Trump said to (Manchin), ‘Tell Cooz not to worry. He’s on the schedule, we’re just going to move him down the road a little bit. I’ve got to react (to Woods winning the Masters),’ ” Cousy said. “He is such a Tiger fan and he was such a golf fan that he wanted to get Tiger on the stage as quick as he could.
“So, Tiger upstaged me.”
At least Cousy knows who was behind him receiving the Medal of Freedom.
As for the vaccine…
“It’s a mystery,” he said. “We still don’t know. We eventually will be told.”