Runaway Redhead

The annual all-star game staged at midseason by the National Basketball Association is traditionally little more than a friendly workout for the players. Unfortunately for the West All-Stars last week, somebody forgot to pass the word to Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics.

Starting at center for the East, the baby-faced redhead beat Wilt Chamberlain on the opening tipoff, charged to the basket, gathered in a rebound and popped in the first two points. Moments later he banked in another jump shot. Then he quickly scored on a fast break, stole the ball and started yet another assault. Never letting up, the irrepressible Cowens led the East to a 104-84 victory and hustled off the Chicago court with the game's Most Valuable Player honors.

Until Cowens arrived in Boston two years ago, the Celtics seemed unable to recover from the retirement of Super-Center Bill Russell in 1969. Despite a consistently brilliant performance from Veteran Forward John Havlicek, the once vaunted Celtics had slipped into the role of also-ran, missing the playoffs in 1970 and 1971. Now they have regained their old form; they are leading the league with a startling record of 40 wins and only seven losses. And the difference is clearly Cowens, whose court credo is "go all out all the time at both ends of the floor." That means everything: blocking shots, skidding headlong across the hardwood in a scramble for the ball, leading fast breaks and rifling jump passes half the length of the court. "All he does is run. run. run." panted the Baltimore Bullets' Elvin Hayes after Cowens victimized him in a recent game by raking in 29 rebounds. "Many centers pick their spots to perform," says Bullet Coach Gene Shue. "Cowens hustles constantly He's the best big hustler in the league."

At 6 ft. 9 in. and 230 Ibs., Cowens is, in fact, a David among the 7-ft. Goliaths he goes against in the N.B.A. Graceless but gutsy, he compensates for those inches with his extraordinary spring and a rebounding style that is all flying elbows and knees. "When he goes up in the air," says Celtic Coach Tom Heinsohn, "he takes up an incredible amount of space"--about as much as Bill Russell used to occupy.

Like Russell, Cowens is an unorthodox lefthander who came late to basketball. Raised in Newport, Ky., he was a swimmer until his junior year in high school, which is probably why he was overlooked by most of the big Midwestern colleges and finally recruited through the mail by Florida State Coach Hugh Durham. "I sent a lot of postcards to high school coaches," explains Durham, "and Dave's coach at Newport Catholic answered. Cowens wasn't a great scorer, but he could rebound, and that's what we needed." That was also what Celtic President Red Auerbach was looking for four years later when he saw Cowens play at Florida State. "You know," recalls Auerbach, "he scared me the first time I scouted him. He was so good that I kept hoping he'd make a mistake. There were scouts from half a dozen other N.B.A. teams there that night, and I figured if they saw the same potential in Cowens that I did, I was dead."

Auerbach survived. In 1970 he signed Cowens for a threeyear, $300,000 contract. Dave wasted no time running off with Rookie of the Year honors that season. To his teammates, Cowens has qualified ever since as Kookie of the Year. While pursuing a degree in criminology, he did research at Harvard in subjects like the electric chair. Last season he was well into a 50-week course in auto mechanics when Auerbach suggested that arriving late for practice in greasy overalls was not the proper conduct for a budding Celtic superstar. Cowens also gave up flying lessons, partly because "some of the planes were too small for me to fit into." His investment in a catfish farm in British Honduras went sour because "the fish didn't reproduce." And every time he pulls out the jew's-harp he always carries with him, his fellow Celtics quickly say, "Uh, not now, Dave."

Cowens' eccentricities aside, his teammates and rivals feel that he is a strong contender for the N.B.A.'s Most Valuable Player award. Cowens himself remains dubious. When he first arrived in the big league, he worried that "at my height, I'll be just another undersize pivotman. In fact, I'll probably be worn out halfway through the season." That point has been reached, and the wear and tear are evident--but only on opposing centers who have the task of chasing Boston's runaway redhead.

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