Everybody knows the legend of Larry Bird and how he left home to win championships for the Boston Celtics and how he always raced back to French Lick as soon as that last game had been played. Everyone knows how Red Auerbach snatched Bird as a junior eligible, making it one of Red's biggest heists of all time. And everyone knows how hard Bird worked, not only to improve his game, but in just about everything that he did.
What many people don’t know is that another Celtic, from another era, did all of these things, too. His name is Frank Ramsey, and his jersey hangs from the Fleet Center rafters just like Larry Bird's.
Frank Ramsey grew up in Madisonville, Kentucky. He played for the legendary Adolph Rupp and won an NCAA Championship as a Kentucky Wildcat. He was selected by Red Auerbach in the first round of the 1953 draft, even though he was a junior and had one more season of college ball left. You want a hard worker? How many hall-of-fame basketball players are bank presidents at the age of 71?
Frank Ramsey is quite a man. He lives in the same small town where he grew up, and he treats his accomplishments is an NCAA crown, seven NBA championships, induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as if they were really no big deal at all. I know better, of course. I had the good fortune to interview Frank Ramsey, to learn firsthand that Red Auerbach not only coached great athletes, he also coached great people.
This interview took place over several days and in the brief pockets of time when Mr. Ramsey wasn't opening the bank vault for business, meeting with customers, or handling the day-to-day emergencies that happen when you're the man in charge. Each conversation gave me a greater appreciation of Mr. Ramsey’s work ethic, and I came away from the experience reminded of the things that make his generation so special as honesty, integrity, and a can-do spirit
