Bob Cousy

Bob Cousy was the original showtime point guard — the man who invented flashy passing in professional basketball and proved that a playmaker could be the engine of a dynasty. His six championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s established him as the greatest point guard of basketball's first era, and his behind-the-back passes and no-look dimes were decades ahead of their time.

Cousy led the league in assists eight consecutive seasons, a record of playmaking consistency that speaks to his absolute command of the Celtics offense. His 1957 MVP award recognized what everyone in the sport already knew — that Cousy was the catalyst who made Boston's fast-break attack the most feared offense in basketball. He was the floor general for a dynasty that won six titles in seven years.

The criticism of Cousy is that he played in an era with fewer teams and less athletic competition. That's fair, but it doesn't diminish what he meant to the evolution of basketball. Cousy showed that a point guard could be a star, that passing could be an art form, and that showmanship and winning weren't mutually exclusive. Every flashy point guard who followed — Magic, Isiah, Kidd, Nash — owes a debt to Cousy's creativity.