April 18, 1962: Cousy Dribbles Out the Clock

Bob Cousy (left) and Jerry West.

Which one's "The Logo" -- and which deserved to be?

April 18, 1962: Game 7 of the NBA Finals is played at the Boston Garden. It would resolve the 1st-ever Finals meeting between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Minneapolis Lakers had played the Celtics in the 1959 Finals, and lost, before moving to Los Angeles in 1960. With broadcaster Francis "Chick" Hearn doing for the them what Vin Scully had done for baseball's Dodgers, and Tom Harmon had done for football's Rams, the Lakers were very popular immediately. Winning also helped: They reached the NBA Finals in only their 2nd season in the city.

But they would have to face the Boston Celtics, who had advanced to their 6th straight NBA Finals, and had won 4 of the previous 5. The Lakers gained a split at the Boston Garden, losing Game 1, 122-108; and winning Game 2, 129-122. It seemed like a good sign, especially after they won Game 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, 117-115.

But the Celtics took home-court advantage back, winning Game 4 in L.A., 115-103. The road teams won the next 2: The Lakers won Game 5 in Boston, 126-121, with Elgin Baylor scoring 61 points, still an NBA Finals record, and were 1 win away from the title, with Game 6 in Los Angeles; but the Celtics won that, 119-105.

Game 7 was held at the Boston Garden on April 18, with an incredible array of talent. From the Celtics, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones (no relation) and former New York Knicks star Carl Braun all made the Basketball Hall of Fame. So did coach-general manager Red Auerbach and team owner Walter Brown. From the Lakers, the Hall has inducted Baylor and Jerry West. Each team's main broadcaster went on to receive the Hall's media award: The Lakers' Hearn and the Celtics' Johnny Most.

In 1954, Frank Selvy of Furman University had set the college basketball record with 100 points in a game against Newberry College. Both schools were based in South Carolina. Now, in 1962, Selvy was with the Lakers, and had made the NBA All-Star Team for the 2nd time. With 5 seconds left in regulation, and the score tied at 100, Selvy had an open shot from 12 feet out. It would have given the Lakers the title, and ended -- or, at least, interrupted -- the Celtics' dynasty. Instead, he missed. It remains the most famous miss in basketball history.

Frank Selvy (right), guarded by K.C. Jones

The Celtics have long had a leprechaun logo at center court of their arena, and their success -- including their opponents' misfortune -- has often been attributed to "The Luck of the Leprechaun." The Number 1 song in America on this day was "Good Luck Charm" by Elvis Presley. It was probably a coincidence, since Elvis was not known to be a Celtics fan, and Celtics owner Walter Brown had no control over radio stations and jukeboxes. Probably a coincidence...

Just as the Celtics had done against the St. Louis Hawks in 1957, Game 7 went to overtime. Unlike that one, it wouldn't go to a 2nd overtime. The Celtics led 110-107 with a few seconds left, with Russell tying his own NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds. The Lakers needed to foul to even have a chance. But Cousy, long known as the game's greatest dribbler and nicknamed "The Houdini of the Hardwood" -- he was considered magical before Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson was even born -- managed to stay away from defenders, and dribble out the clock, until the final horn sounded, and the Celtics were World Champions again.

For the Celtics: Russell scored 30 points, Sam Jones 27, Ramsey 23, Cousy and Heinsohn 8 each, Tom "Satch" Sanders and Jim Loscutoff 6 each, K.C. Jones 2, and Braun and Gene Guarilla each played 4 minutes without scoring.

For the Lakers: Baylor scored 41, West 35, Selvy 10, Jim Krebs 8, Rudy LaRusso 7, Tom Hawkins 4, Ray Felix 2, and Howie Joliff played 9 minutes and Rod Hundley 4 without scoring.

The Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals again in 1963 (after which Cousy retired), 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. They also beat the San Francisco Warriors in the Finals in 1964. The only interruption in this run of 13 seasons, 12 Finals berths, and 11 titles came in 1967, when Wilt Chamberlain led the Philadelphia 76ers to beat them in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then won the Finals over the Warriors, the new Philadelphia team beating the old one.

The Lakers lost the Finals in 1970, too, that time to the Knicks. Finally, in 1972, the Lakers beat the Knicks for their 1st title in Los Angeles. In 1973, the Knicks beat them in the Finals. The Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the Finals in 1974, the Phoenix Suns in 1976, and the Houston Rockets in 1981. In 1984, the Celtics beat the Lakers again, and were 8-0 against the Lakers in the Finals -- 7-0 against the Los Angeles version.

In 1985, not only did the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in the Finals, but they became the 1st team other than the Celtics to clinch the NBA Championship at the Boston Garden. The Celtics beat the Rockets in 1986, then the Lakers beat the Celtics again in 1987. It would take until 2008 for them to face each other again, and the Celtics won. They faced each other again in 2010, and the Lakers won.

Through the 2020-21 season, the Celtics and the Lakers have each won 17 NBA Championships, tied for 1st. But 5 of the Lakers' titles came in Minneapolis, so it's really 17-12 in the Celtics' favor.

*

April 18, 1962 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 4 and 5. The Toronto Maple Leafs would defeat the defending Champions, the Chicago Black Hawks, in 6 games.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 1-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Milt Pappas allowed 2 hits over 6 innings, and Hoyt Wilhelm 2 hits over the last 3, to outpitch Bill Stafford. Pappas hit a home run in the 5th inning, for the only run of the game. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Roger Maris went 0-for-4. Yogi Berra appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-5 at the Polo Grounds. The Cards advanced to 5-0 on the season, while the Mets dropped to 0-6 for their entire history. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, Ken Boyer hit 2 home runs, and Boyer and Bill White each got 3 hits. The Mets got homers from Ed Bouchee and Frank Thomas. Not that one.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 14-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Yes, that's baseball, not football. Jim O'Toole pitched a 4-hit shutout. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 5-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline hit a home run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs, including a home run to win it in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Braves scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, as Stu Miller wasted a nice start by Jack Sanford. Hank Aaron hit his 255th career home run, and Eddie Mathews hits his 372nd. Warren Spahn gained his 310th win. Willie Mays, who came into the game with 323 home runs, went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-1... with 4 walks.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. That ballpark had opened just 8 days earlier, and through the 1965 season, the Angels would groundshare with the slightly more established team, before their stadium down the Freeway in Anaheim was ready.

And the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were not scheduled.

April 13, 1957: The Birth of the Boston Celtic Dynasty

April 13, 1957: The greatest dynasty in the history of basketball begins.

The Boston Celtics were a charter franchise in the Basketball Association of America. But their 1st decade of play gave little indication of what was to come. In the 1946-47 season, the Celtics missed the Playoffs. The lost in the 1st Round in 1948. They missed the Playoffs again in 1949 and 1950.

In 1949, the Washington Capitols reached the Finals, losing to the Minneapolis Lakers. Then the BAA merged with the National Basketball League, and the Caps' coach knew he needed reinforcements. Team owner Mike Uline refused his requests, and the coach resigned.

The Capitols folded in 1951. The NBA would not return to Washington until 1973. Titles won since 1951: Boston 17, Washington 1. Mike Uline's punishment has been to be forgotten. It should have been to be ridiculed, as the dumbest sports team owner in D.C. area history, even more than Daniel Snyder.

The coach that Uline fired was a native of Brooklyn, who had played in D.C. at George Washington University. In spite of this resignation, and all the success he had later elsewhere, he lived in D.C. for the rest of his life. His name was Arnold Jacob Auerbach. For what little hair he had left, he was called Red.

He coached the 1949-50 season with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and missed the Playoffs. And team owner Ben Kerner not only refused to add to his talent, but traded away John Mahnken, Auerbach's favorite player. Auerbach resigned again.

Walter Brown owned the Boston Garden, and thus was the owner of the Celtics, and the NHL's Boston Bruins. He also owned the Ice Capades. As the President of the Boston Athletic Association, he was in charge of the Boston Marathon. He knew sports in general.

The Boston Garden

But in preparation for the 1950-51 season, he admitted to a gathering of Boston sportswriters, "Boys, I don't know anything about basketball. Who would you recommend I hire as coach?" Auerbach was available, and was immediately recommended. Auerbach demanded total control over player movement -- in other words, he wanted to be the general manager as well as the head coach. Brown gave it to him.

Auerbach drafted Chuck Cooper of Duquesne University, making him the 1st black player drafted by an NBA team. The way things worked out, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton became the 1st black player signed to an NBA contract, by the New York Knicks; and Earl Lloyd of the Capitols became the 1st black player to actually get into a game, a night before Cooper and Clifton did so.

Cooper's influence was much more off the court than on: He played just 4 seasons with the Celtics, and 6 in the NBA; but his presence on the Celtics meant that Auerbach and Brown were willing to sign anyone that they thought could help them win, regardless of race.

In 1951, the Celtics made the Playoffs, but lost in the Division Finals to a stronger Knicks team. The same thing happened in 1952. In 1953, they beat the Syracuse Nationals in the 1st round, but lost the Division Finals to the Knicks. In 1954, they lost the Division Finals to the Nationals. In 1955, for the 1st time, they beat the Knicks in the Playoffs, but lost the Division Finals to the Nationals. And in 1956, they lost the Division Semifinals to the Nationals. In other words, the Celtics were a good team, but not quite good enough.

On April 30, 1956, the NBA Draft was held in New York. With the 1st pick, the Celtics selected Tommy Heinsohn, forward from the nearby College of the Holy Cross. The team's biggest star, guard Bob Cousy, was also a Holy Cross graduate, having helped them win the 1947 NCAA Tournament.

With the 2nd pick, the Rochester Royals selected Sihugo Green, a guard from Duquesne. Green was a decent player, but hardly the kind of star you would expect to go as the 2nd pick overall.

With the 3rd pick, the St. Louis Hawks -- formerly the Tri-Cities Blackhawks -- drafted Bill Russell, a center who had led the University of San Francisco to back-to-back National Championships. It looked like the Hawks had gotten the better player.

But later that day, the Hawks traded the rights to Russell to the Celtics, for 2 All-Stars, center Ed Macauley and forward Cliff Hagan. Ben Kerner was still their owner, and was still cheap, and didn't want to pay the money he was sure that Russell would demand. (He may have had a point: After Wilt Chamberlain became the 1st NBA player to receive a contract for $100,000 a year, Russell asked Auerbach for $100,001 -- and got it.)

That explains why the Hawks traded the rights to Russell. But why didn't the Royals draft him? Walter Brown pulled a dirty trick: Knowing that Royals owner Lester Harrison needed money for the new arena he'd just opened (it's still there, under the name of the Blue Cross Arena, though the Royals moved away in 1957), Brown told Harrison that if you pass on Russell, I'll send the Ice Capades to Rochester. Thinking of the revenue that this would generate, Harrison took one of the oddest trades in NBA history.

Due to being set in the Southern Hemisphere, in Melbourne, Australia, the 1956 "Summer" Olympics were held from November 22 to December 8. Bill Russell and his USF teammate K.C. Jones led the U.S. team to the Gold Medal.

Therefore, they couldn't make their NBA debut until December 22, 1956. As things turned out, it was against the Hawks, at the Boston Garden. Russell scored only 6 points, but Heinsohn scored 19, and Cousy and Jack Nichols (not to be confused with Jack Nicholson) each scored 16, and the Celtics won, 95-93.

The Celtics finished the regular season 44-28, winning the Eastern Division, and a bye to the Eastern Division Finals, where they swept the Nationals in 3 straight. With Mikan retired, the Lakers were no match for the Hawks, who swept them. Each franchise was now in a league final for the 1st time.

Game 1 was played on March 30, at the Boston Garden. Bob Pettit, the best forward in the game at the time, scored 37 points for the Hawks. Bill Sharman, the best shooter in the game at the time, scored 36 for the Celtics. Heinsohn hit a shot to force overtime, and Cousy one to force double overtime, but the luck for which the Celtics would later become known ran out, and the Hawks won, 125-123. A classic NBA Finals was underway.

The Celtics ran away with Game 2, 119-99. The series moved west, and the Hawks held firm at the Kiel Auditorium, winning 100-98. Pettit hit the game-winning shot with 44 seconds left. But the Celtics overcame 33 from Pettit, including with 31 from Cousy, and took back the home-court advantage by winning Game 4, 123-118.

The series went back to Boston, and the Celtics won Game 5, 124-109. It went back to St. Louis, and the Hawks won Game 6, 96-94, on a buzzer-beater by Hagan. It would be decided on a Saturday afternoon at the Boston Garden, April 13, 1957, in front of a crowd officially listed as 13,909, due to Boston fire laws, but there might have been as many as 20,000 in the building.

The Hawks led 28-26 after 1 quarter, and 53-51 at the half. The Celtics jumped ahead in the 3rd quarter, taking an 83-79 lead. But Pettit hit a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left, and at the end of regulation, it was Hawks 103, Celtics 103. With 9 seconds left in overtime, the Hawks' Jack Coleman sank a shot to send the game to a 2nd overtime.

In the end, the Hawks had 39 points from Pettit, 24 from Hagan, and 23 from Slater Martin (a key figure in the early 1950s Minneapolis Laker dynasty). Only 1 Celtic scored more than Russell's 19, but that was Heinsohn with 37. After 58 minutes of play, including 2 overtimes, it was Celtics 125, Hawks 123. It remains the only NBA Finals Game 7 to go to a 2nd overtime.

The teams would play each other in 4 Finals in 5 seasons. In Game 3 of the 1958 Finals, Russell injured his ankle, and the Hawks won the franchise's only title. In 1960 and 1961, the Celtics beat the Hawks. The Hawks have not been back to the Finals since, and moved to Atlanta in 1968. The Kiel Auditorium was demolished, and the Kiel Center, the new home of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, opened on the site in 1994. It is now named the Enterprise Center.

Russell would play 13 seasons for the Celtics, make the Finals 12 times, and win 11 NBA Championships. He and Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens are the only people in North American major league sports with more championship rings than they have fingers to put them on.

Auerbach retired as head coach after the 1966 season, and named Russell the 1st black coach in modern major league sports. He led them to the title in 1968 and 1969, then retired as a player. Auerbach remained in charge of personnel decisions with the Celtics until 1997, winning a total of 16 NBA Championships. The Celtics (and the Bruins) moved from the Boston Garden to the next-door arena now known as the TD Garden in 1995.

Auerbach died in 2006. Russell and Cousy are the last 2 surviving players from the 1957 NBA Champions.

Russell, Cousy and Sharman were named to the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.

*

April 13, 1957 was a Saturday. Comedian Gary Kroeger, best known for being a castmember of Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, was born.

The Major League Baseball season was about to begin, and the NFL was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were underway. The Montreal Canadiens led the Boston Bruins, 3 games to none. On April 14, the Bruins won Game 4, 2-0 at the Boston Garden. But on April 16, at the Montreal Forum, the Canadiens won, 5-1, and finished the Bruins off.

This was the 1st time that the same arena had hosted the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals in the same year. The Boston Garden would host both again in 1958 and 1974. It would be done by Madison Square Garden in New York in 1972 and 1994 (the latter being the closest any building has ever come to winning both), The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1976 and 1980, the Chicago Stadium in 1992, and the Meadowlands Arena in 2003.

Also on April 13, 1957, Arsenal travel to the North-East of England, and lose 1-0 to Sunderland at Roker Park.

March 17, 1963: The Boston Tear Party (We Love Ya, Cooz!)

March 17, 1963: The Boston Celtics hold a retirement ceremony for guard Bob Cousy. It becomes known as the Boston Tear Party.

A New York native, Cousy grew up first on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and then in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens. An injury to his right hand forced the guard to dribble with his left, the result being that, when fully healed, he could do pretty much anything with a basketball with either hand. His dribbling skills led to the nickname "The Houdini of the Hardwood."

At a time when freshmen were eligible for varsity play (they would soon not be, until 1972), Cousy helped the College of the Holy Cross win the NCAA Tournament in 1947, and reach what would now be called the Final Four again in 1948. The Boston Celtics took him as a "territorial pick" in the NBA Draft. He led the league in assists 8 times, was named to the league's 1st 15 All-Star Games, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1957, leading the Celtics to their 1st NBA Championship. He also formed the NBA Players' Association, the 1st players' union in any of the "big four" North American sports.

Soon, it would no longer be his team, as center Bill Russell made it his own. Cousy had no problem with this, for the same reason that head coach and general manager Red Auerbach had no problem with it: The Celtics kept on winning. They reached the NBA Finals again in 1958, but lost; then won them in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. In Game 7 of the 1962 Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Cousy preserved a 1-point lead in the final seconds by dribbling out the clock.

At age 34, he announced that the 1962-63 season would be his last. On March 17, the Boston Garden was jammed, and repeated standing ovations turned what was intended as a 7-minute ceremony into one lasting 20 minutes. A telegram from President John F. Kennedy, a Boston native, was read aloud: "The game bears an indelible stamp of your rare skills and competitive daring."

Trying to make his speech, Cousy was overwhelmed, and his noticeable speech impediment grew stronger. He struggled to find the right words, until the silence was broken by a fan later identified as Joe Dillion, a water worker from South Boston, yelling, "We love ya, Cooz!" This produced another standing ovation.

There was a game, and the Celtics beat the Syracuse Nationals, 125-116. There was no way that Auerbach -- Cousy was one of the few people to call him by his real name, Arnold, rather than his nickname, Red -- was going to let his team lose this game. Cousy himself only scored 8 points, but had 9 assists. Tom Heinsohn scored 28 points, Russell and rookie John Havlicek each scored 19, Sam Jones 16, Tom "Satch" Sanders 12, Dan Swartz 8, K.C. Jones and Clyde Lovellette 6 each, and Jim Loscutoff 3. For the Nats, who moved the next season to become the Philadelphia 76ers, Hal Greer scored 25.

Cousy helped the Celtics win one more title, again beating the Lakers in the Finals. He was immediately hired to coach at Boston College, and in 6 seasons, got them into 2 NCAA Tournaments and 3 NITs. In 1969, he was hired as head coach of the Cincinnati Royals. Despite having future Hall-of-Famers Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas, they struggled, and Cousy came out of retirement to play 7 games, wearing Number 19, because Robertson was wearing 14. It didn't help.

He was still with the Royals when they moved to become the Kansas City Kings in 1972, but was fired in 1974. He later overcame his speech impediment to broadcast for the Celtics. In 1993, he appeared in the film Blue Chips, as the athletic director of the university where Nick Nolte played the coach. A conversation between the two of them shows Cousy trying free throws. He makes 7 in a row, and Nolte says, "Do you ever miss?" By the time the scene ended, he was 10-for-10. He was 67 years old at the time.

He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and to the NBA's 25th, 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. Holy Cross retired his Number 17, and the Celtics retired his Number 14. He was the last living player from the 1st NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and he and Russell were the last living players of both the Celtics' 1957 NBA Champions and the NBA's 25th Anniversary Team.

*

March 17, 1963 was a Sunday. There were 2 other NBA games played that day. The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 116-109 at the Cincinnati Gardens. The aforementioned Oscar Robertson had 34 points and 14 rebounds. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 119-105 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action that day, including the nightcap of the Boston Garden doubleheader for which Cousy's official farewell was the opener:

* The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens played to a 2-2 tie. Johnny Bucyk and Doug Mohns gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead, but they blew it, as Dickie Moore and Bobby Rousseau scored for the Habs.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers, 2-1 at the old Madison Square Garden. Bob Nevin and Eddie Shack scored for the Leafs, Andy Bathgate for the Broadway Blues.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. It was a rough game, with 11 separate penalties called. The Wings got goals from Bruce MacGregor, Vic Stasiuk, Alex Delvecchio and Marcel Pronovost; the Hawks got them from Ron Murphy and Stan Mikita.

March 2, 1951: The 1st NBA All-Star Game

Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Garden,

and thus owner of the Boston Celtics (and Bruins),

and host of the game, flanked by the Celtics named to the game,

Ed Macauley (22) and Bob Cousy (14).

March 2, 1951: The 1st NBA All-Star Game is played, at the Boston Garden.

The players for this game were chosen by sportswriters, without regard to position, and the only rule was that a writer could not select a player from his own city. On February 13, the NBA's President (the title wouldn't be "Commissioner" until 1967), Maurice Podoloff, announced the 10 players on each team.

From the Eastern Division, wearing white jerseys, coached by Joe Lapchick of New York:

* From the Baltimore Bullets: Center Red Rocha. This version of the Bullets went out of business in 1954. In 1961, the Chicago Packers were formed. They became the Chicago Zephyrs in 1962, the new Baltimore Bullets in 1963, then moved to the D.C. area for 1973-74, becoming the Capital Bullets. That name was every bit as dumb as a football fan might perceive "Chicago Packers" to be, so for 1974-75, they became the Washington Bullets. In 1997, they became the Washington Wizards.

* From the Boston Celtics: Guard Bob Cousy and center Ed Macauley.

* From the New York Knickerbockers: Forwards Vince Boryla and Harry Gallatin, and guard Dick McGuire. Then as now, hardly anybody used the team's full name: To all and sundry, they have been, and are, the Knicks.

* From the Philadelphia Warriors: Forwards Joe Fulks and Paul Arizin, and guard Andy Phillip. They became the San Francisco Warriors in 1962, then moved across the Bay to Oakland in 1971, becoming the Golden State Warriors. Despite moving back to San Francisco in 2019, they have kept the Golden State name.

* From the Syracuse Nationals: Forward Dolph Schayes. They moved in 1963, taking the Warriors' place in the City of Brotherly Love, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers.

From the Western Division, wearing blue jerseys, coached by John Kundla of Minneapolis:

* From the Fort Wayne Pistons: Forwards Larry Foust and Fred Schaus. They moved to Detroit in 1957.

* From the Indianapolis Olympians: Guard Ralph Beard and center Alex Groza. They went out of business in 1953.

* From the Minneapolis Lakers: Center George Mikan, and forwards Jim Pollard and Vern Mikkelsen. They moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

* From the Rochester Royals: Guard Bob Davies. They became the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985.

* From the Tri-Cities Blackhawks: Guard Frank Brian and forward Dwight Eddleman. This team was based in Moline, Illinois, and the region, which also includes Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa is now widely known as the Quad Cities. They became the Milwaukee Hawks the next season, the St. Louis Hawks in 1955, and the Atlanta Hawks in 1968.

Due to the limited size of the rosters, the NBA is the only one of the "Big Four" North American sports leagues that doesn't guarantee every team at least one player in its All-Star Game. Nevertheless, all 10 teams were represented. (The season had started with 11, but the Washington Capitols had gone out of business early on.)

The game was not broadcast on television, only on radio. At the end of the 1st quarter, the East led 31-22. At halftime, the East led 53-42. After 3 quarters, the East led 83-64. The final score was East 111, West 94.

Points scored, East: Macauley 20 for the game's Most Valuable Player award, Fulks 19, Schayes 15, Arizin 15, Boryla 9, Cousy 8, Rocha 8, Phillip 6, McGuire 6, Gallatin 5. West: Groza 17, Brian 14, Davies 13, Mikan 12, Mikkelsen 11, Schaus 8, Eddleman 7, Beard 6, Pollard 4, Foust 2. So everybody who got into the game scored. Schayes led all players with 14 rebounds, and McGuire did so with 10 assists.

As of March 2, 2022, Cousy is the only surviving player.

*

March 2, 1951 was a Friday. Obviously, there were no other NBA games on this day. Baseball was entering Spring Training. Football was out of season. And while the NHL was in season, no games were scheduled. So there were no other scores on this historic day.