🏀 The trailblazing Chuck Cooper

Good Morning, Boston.

🎃 Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had a tough Halloween. Belichick’s ex-partner Linda Holliday recently stepped out at a Halloween party dressed as Uma Thurman’s character from the “Kill Bill” movies. Between that and Tom Brady being down horrendous (seriously, “Landslide” lyrics?) over Gisele Bündchen’s big news, the GOAT combo hasn’t taken an L this big since “The Philly Special.”

What’s on tap today:

• Big Papi takes on the Yankees

• Mookie Betts’ big win

• 100 years of Bruins hockey

Let’s get into it …

LEADING OFF

How Chuck Cooper changed the Celtics – and the NBA

Today marks a special day in Boston Celtics history. Two Celtics legends, coach Red Auerbach and guard Bob Cousy, made their Boston debuts on this day in 1950. The two went on to dominate the NBA during their day and became two of the franchise’s most beloved figures. Perhaps even more importantly: the first Black player ever to suit up for the Celtics took the hardwood alongside them.

Cooper was an NBA trailblazer. Three years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the Celtics selected Cooper 13th overall in the 1950 draft out of Duquesne University, making him the first Black player drafted into the NBA. When then-Celtics owner Walter A. Brown got pushback from his colleagues for the decision, he reportedly said, “I don’t give a damn if he’s striped, plaid, or polka dot. Boston takes Chuck Cooper of Duquesne.” 

Cooper and the Celtics led the NBA’s integration. The Celtics drafting Cooper so highly encouraged teams to seek out Black players: 

• The Washington Capitols took Earl Lloyd out of West Virginia State seven rounds after Cooper in the 1950 draft.

• The New York Knicks signed Cooper’s old Harlem Globetrotters’ teammate Nat Clifton a month later.

• The Tri-Cities Blackhawks signed Hank DeZonie in December of the same year.

The first three — Cooper, Lloyd and Clifton — each played at least six seasons and were all inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. The Celtics later became the first team to both have an all-Black starting lineup and hire a Black head coach (Russell).

Cooper indirectly helped bring Bill Russell to Boston. Three years after drafting Cooper, the Celtics traded for Don Barksdale, who was the first Black NBA All-Star. Then, in the 1956 NBA Draft, the Celtics traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks to acquire Bill Russell. Barksdale’s positive words about Brown and Auerbach, as well as their drafting of Cooper, intrigued Russell, who said he would not have played in the NBA if St. Louis had kept him. Russell later would refuse to attend his 1975 Hall of Fame induction ceremony or accept his ring until the Hall finally inducted Cooper in 2019.

Without Cooper, Celtics basketball wouldn’t be the same. The former college All-American averaged just 6.7 points a game in his six NBA seasons, four of which were with Boston. But he paved the way for the likes of Russell, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, and other Black basketball stars who elevated the Celtics while battling racism and discrimination. Now, Black basketball players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown thrive in Boston and further Cooper’s Hall-of-Fame legacy both on and off the court.

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

😈 David Ortiz drinks the tears of Yankee fans. Big Papi took every opportunity this postseason to remind former rivals Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter about the Red Sox’s epic 3-0 ALCS comeback 20 years ago. Yankees fans responded Monday with a “Papi sucks!” chant while Ortiz was on set in the Bronx. Ortiz simply laughed back in their faces, just like he did when he hit 53 of his 541 career home runs off their team. Ortiz got the last laugh again after the Yankees folded against the Dodgers in the Fall Classic.

🧌 Joe Mazzulla is an emerging Boston sports troll. This week, Mazzulla said bringing back fighting in basketball would make the game more entertaining because … of course he did. This comes after he told reporters before the season there’s no pressure on the Celtics to repeat because “we’re all going to be dead soon.” No one’s having more fun with the media than the C’s coach, and his zany responses are keeping the heat on him even as his team blitzes the NBA with a 4-1 start. Genius.

🤕 Drake May(e) play? The rookie QB left Sunday’s win over the Jets with a concussion following a nasty head-to-head hit on a scramble. But on Thursday, Maye ramped up his participation in practice and led off QB drills, indicating he realistically could practice in full on Friday and play Sunday against the struggling Tennessee Titans. The Patriots, of course, should be cautious with their young star. But his play has been so promising that you’d hate to miss him on the field down in Nashville.

🤔 Should the Patriots let Maye come back this week?

BEYOND BOSTON

Out-of-town report

Theeeeeeee … Yankees lose. Old friend Mookie Betts shrugged off two boisterous Bronx bozos in Game 4, then out-sprinted Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo to first base to ignite New York’s fifth-inning implosion and recorded a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in Game 5. Then, Alex Verdugo, the man who replaced Betts in Boston, struck out to end the game for the Yankees. The MLB script-writers went crazy this World Series.

Cooper Flagg inks a major NIL deal. The Maine native became the first men’s college basketball athlete to sign with Gatorade. The projected No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NBA Draft also has a deal with New Balance and showed out this summer for the Select Team that prepped Team USA for the Olympics. What a year for the kid from Newport.

Payton Pritchard’s buzzer-beater stuns Doc Rivers. Pritchard’s latest soul-crushing, quarter-ending bomb on Tuesday had the ex-Celtics/now-Bucks coach despondent. Why? Because Rivers said he warned his players not to allow Pritchard to get one of those patented shots off, and it happened anyway. Might want to work on that before the next Celtics-Bucks game, Doc.

ON THIS DAY | NOVEMBER 1, 1924

Bruins celebrate their centennial

Bruins become the NHL’s first U.S. franchise. When the NHL was first formed in 1917, the league consisted only of Canadian teams. The Boston Bruins broke that barrier on this day in 1924, paying $15,000 for the right to field the first U.S. pro hockey team. A month later, they hosted the first pro hockey game on U.S. soil at Boston Arena — now Northeastern University’s Matthews Arena. 100 years later, the spoked B is still going strong.

THE BEST THING I SAW IN SPORTS

A stunning collapse

🔥 The Yankees’ epic meltdown loses the World Series. From Aaron Judge dropping a fly ball to Cole forgetting to cover first base to Series MVP Freddie Freeman ripping out Yankees fans’ hearts for the 500th time this week, that five-run comeback was peak entertainment for everyone outside of New York. The baseball gods waited a day to smite the Yankees for those fans accosting Betts, but they delivered.

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’ll be praying for the Yankees to keep up this championship drought so we can call this “The Curse of the Jabroni.”

🏆 We asked, you answered … 56% of you who responded Monday said you’re please with Jerod Mayo so far. A few more wins won’t hurt.

📲 Keep up with us @BSideSports on IG, TikTok, and X. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected].