Bob Cousy is celebrating his 91st birthday Friday, but that's not the only big event the Celtics legend is celebrating this month.
Cousy will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in a couple of weeks, with a ceremony scheduled for August 22 at 4:30 p.m., unless national or world events force a postponement.
Along with the Congressional Gold Medal, the Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S. and bestowed to people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
The ceremony has been several years in the making, as Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern and others helped put a portfolio together when Barack Obama was in office. Though the honor didn't happen then, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin later mentioned Cousy to President Trump, who called Cousy in December, as the Hall of Fame guard detailed in an interview with NBA.com's Steve Aschburner.
"I obviously accepted -- we had a nice 15-minute dialogue -- and I did say, ‘Mr. President, I am flattered by you calling personally. But I told Joe a year ago I’d refuse to accept this award posthumously.' He laughed at that and said, 'I’m going to do it again in April and you’re the first one I’m inviting.' He said, 'So can you stay alive till April.' I told him I’d give it my best shot."
The ceremony ended up getting delayed until August after Tiger Woods won the Masters, as President Trump held a separate ceremony for Woods afterwards.
Cousy says this marks his seventh — "and most exciting" — invitation to the White House, as he's been invited in the past by Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson (twice), Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. And though Cousy declined Nixon's invitation in 1973 when the AAU team he coached was mad at Nixon for the Vietnam War, Cousy says he's trying to leave politics out of this trip — though he did say that "given this situation, this President will definitely have (his) vote in 2020."
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"I’m going to the White House with my family and some close friends, and trying not to make it political in any way," Cousy told Aschburner. "I’m just very pleased to be chosen at this point in my life."
Cousy's honor will make the Celtics the second sports franchise with two Presidential Medal of Honor recipients, joining the Yankees (Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra).
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