Taken 4th and listed at 6-9, Cowens won two rings and a Finals MVP—the ceiling for "short blue-collar centers." He proved a champ big can win without overwhelming talent, by effort and reads.
The Celtics retired Cowens’ No. 18; he entered the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1991, the blue-collar legend finally ratified by history.
Dave Cowens, a 6-foot-9 white center, was drafted 4th by Red Auerbach in 1970. He won Finals MVP in 1973 and a title in 1974—the blue-collar spine of Boston’s revival.
Cowens gave up height but became an elite interior defender through endless running, offensive boards and switching. His "blue-collar basketball" was an early model of efficiency.
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In 1973 the Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns 4-3; Cowens won Finals MVP with 20-plus points and double-digit boards, proving a blue-collar big can take MVP too.
Cowens and Havlicek formed Boston’s 1970s inside-out core: one the wing flair and clutch, the other the interior blue-collar and defense.
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Maxwell played at UNC Charlotte, was drafted 12th overall by the Celtics in 1977, and grew from an unknown into the starting power forward of the Bird era.