Larry Costello, a Link Between Two Philadelphia Franchises

seventy Sixers, the Syracuse Nationals, and the Philadelphia Warriors. And we're going to discuss Costello's playing career as well as his coaching career with Tim Roy, who is the current radio play by play announcer for the Golden State Warriors and has actually help that job now for I think twenty two years. So Tim's got that down pat and he's a great talker as you'll hear in the pod, and really just really loves basketball history. So I was

really happy to get him on for this podcast. But as Tim will explain in just a moment, he came to know Larry Costello back in the nineteen eighties when Tim was working in Utica, New York, and Costello was the coach of Utica College at that point. So through his time knowing Costello from that point forward, Tim got

to know a lot about him. And we'll talk about Larry's career as a player with the as I mentioned the Nats, Warriors and seventy six Ers, where he was a six time All Star during his playing career and was a member of the title team we had here

in Philly back in nineteen sixty seven. And then after his playing career was finished, Costello eventually coached in college bad about a decade long stint as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA and took the Bucks from expansion team in nineteen sixty nine to NBA champions by nineteen seventy one. So this is a great conversation with Tim.

As I said, he loves basketball history, really loves Larry Costello, so he was really pumped to come on and talk about talk about his friend, really and all that he learned from Costello and helped share his career and his accomplishments with you all. So we'll start the podcast off with Tim telling us just how he ran across Costello for the first time back in the eighties, and then we'll just go from there. Learn more about the career

of All Star NBA champion coaching player Larry Costello. I had gone to a small school in up state in New York called Jutica College, and it was a small Division three school. I was much more I went. I visited Syracuse and Boston University because I wanted to be a sportscaster. So I knew it's why I wanted to do since I was a little kid. And so I went up there and and you know, those schools were way too big for me. So the guy at Syracy said, hey, you're way back home, stop off in Utica and check

it out. They got a brand new radio station. It's a smaller school, maybe more your style and the whole bit. So I went there, enjoyed it. Got a job with the local radio station, Treum when I was at the end of my sophomore year, and Rise we started that year. Larry Costello got hired to be the head basketball coach and helped take the program to Division one. The school president was an old friend of Larry's and he wanted to take the program to Division one. So we called Larry,

can you help me do this? Larry said, sure, I got nothing going on. So he came up and was the head coach there from nineteen well in the Division one in nineteen eighty one through nineteen eighty seven. And and so that's how I met him. I did his games and broadcasts games on a local commercial station, and you know, learned a ton of basketball just listening to him talk and you know, having him point out different things to me. And I learned a lot about offensive basketball.

I learned that there's there's a million ways to get somebody a wide open shot. And I learned about how to use you know, play as misdirection. You know, how it looks like it's gonna be that they want to do one thing, but you end up getting another thing. And and so uh. He was a real task master master with his team. But he really understood offensive basketball in a way that that not many people could. And

I think in a lot of ways. Though his record isn't great when he was in college, I think if he saw the talent there and saw what he was able to do in certain games to keep that talent, you know, against a vastly securitior opponent in the game. And um so to me, he was remarkable. He was. I think he was a little underrated as a coach because he was a you know, he was a he was a tough guy. You know, you didn't give him

any any lip or anything like that. He he was you know, he was old school and you know from his hair cut all the way down yep, and you know, you know, and so so uh you know he And but I think if you go back and I think of a lot of players who played for him in the NBA, I think now with their you know years and looking back, I think they probably appreciate it more because of the fact that that he was constantly devising ways to help get them, you know, better shots and

to make them a better team. So, after recalling Larry's coaching career, I asked him about, you know, what stories did Larry share about his playing days. I got some good stuff, starting with, uh, you know, the sixty seven seventy six ers Costello's time with the championship team, but also how Larry got into pro basketball and really did some just some you know, interesting fun stories from the fifties and sixties. You're not gonna get any more to

the NBA because things have changed so much. Uh. It's not good, it's not bad. It's just different, different kinds of stories, different kind of style. He never initiated it. I had to try to prod him. And it might have been, you know, late night after a game over a frosty multi beverage um that uh, he might you know, start if I asked him questions, he would he more

than not, he would answer them. And so when I asked her about that team, he said that Alexander had called him and said, hey, I wanted to come back. I needed to come back a little veteran guard this team. And so he, you know, he showed up. And Larry was always fanatical about being in shape and about being ready and and so he was ready to go, even though he had had some injuries throughout his career. And uh and and he said he loved he loved flavor

Alexander because Anna was kind of like he was. Alexandon was a former marine and again another guy. I think that history doesn't give enough run. I think he was an unbelievable coach. Here the history of the Warriors, the two Warrior teams that got to the finals before seventy five were both coached by Alex Hammer. I mean, and it was you know, they brought him back and they got to the finals. So anyway, so Larry started to that team, and I remember one time I asked him,

I said, I said, I know you got hurt. He what happened because so I tore him achilles tendor. I thought, wow, because I got back in time for the playoffs. He tore his achilles tended in the middle of the season and returned for the playoffs. They didn't play a lot, might you Okay, probably was now nowhere close to the one hundred percent, But when he got hurt, their record was forty four and four. Yep, think about that. Forty four and four. I mean, uh yeah, that team was loaded.

And I think he was proud to be a part of that team. And I think if you had pushed him at the time, he h he was proud to be on a team that a lot of people for the longest time said was you know, the best team to the best individual one year team to play in the NBA. That's how people looked at it for a long long time. He was drafted by the Warriors, and uh, but you know, I think, I think under some parental pressure, he wasn't sure he wanted to be a pro basketball player.

So his mom and wanted to go to some sort of a you know, get some sort of a trade here at college. So he went up to dental school and he was this is after Naggurate. So he's hanging out and he goes, I was going to dental school. He goes, but I kept finding myself in the gym. I kept finding myself playing basketball and taking shots and practicing,

and he goes. And so you know, finally he got he called up at a Gali because he still want me because the camp had already started, and so galis, yeah, sure, get out, get down here. So he reported the Philadelphia with the Warriors and started his career. Ended up being trade to Syracuse, which is why he had such a network of friends up there, because he played with the

Nationals for a long time. And uh, and I remember Jean Shoe telling me once that, you know, a lot of times, you know, the teams back then in the fifties would travel by train, and so uh, sometimes he goes.

Occasionally we would be like, you know, waiting for the other team to home team to get there, and if Syracuse had played like Fort Wayne or somebody the night before, he says, the train would come in and the players would get there about five o'clock and he goes and because I looked at Larry, goes one night and here

comes Larry. He looks like he's having about two hours sleep, and he's, you know, basically dragging his bag of locker room as, oh, I've got this to night because he just sees the tip with up because Larry's running me, ragging all of us going. So it was at an act. Did he just look tired, you know? Or you know, did he just turn I so, uh yeah. So he he had a thing and I remember there was I think this might have been with Syracuse that he scored

I think thirty consecutive points without a miss. He had a night where he got really hot, he said, and didn't miss and just kept scoring and scoring and scoring. He was always a great foul shooter, so that they foul him. It was usually two points, because I think he led the league two or three times at three throw percentage. But one night he just couldn't miss, and he was one of the last guys early to suit the shoot the kind of set shot that they shot

in the early days. He had that going. But he was so quick that he could pump pick you on that and get it get around you. He was always quick. But yeah, those were He talked a little bit about the travel and about how you know, guys were you know, the game was a lot tougher back then, and you know, he says, guys would knock you down, the referee look hit you and say we'll get up. So so they

had to play a different style game back then. So despite all he accomplished, Larry was still a little reticent to have his college players know that he was an NBA All Star. So Tim talked about why Larry was so hesitant to reveal his All Star status. Six times he was an NBA All Star. Did also here Tim recall some stories from other Hall of famers discussing what respect they had for Larry as a player. Well, he didn't. He didn't really mention the All Star games too much.

Like I said, he was very really hard to get in to talk about, you know, his days in the NBA. He um, he really I think, you know, once he got the job there, I think he wanted the players at the college level to really focus in on him as their coach and not as his former NBA guy. I mean, like I said, usually if I got him in a moment where we were alone and there was no you know, maybe one or two other people around, and he would he would chat with us about that.

But I do know that, uh, you know, when I when the All Star thing came up. I remember one conversation we had and you know, one of the guys that was one of the assistant coaches, I didn't know he made the All Star Game that that much. And he was, yeah, well, you know, because I had a few years while I was you know, doing it doing it right. And so I mean he was he was a really steady player, and like I said, he was very quick. He was a tenacious defender and a very

very good shooter. But but he could do you know, a variety of other things. I think he is numbers on the rebounding and assist if I remember, and you get the page up, they're kind of tailed off. And you know, in his latter years and I think the injuries started to take a little bit of their toll. But but when he was healthy, he was a pretty solid rebounder and assist guy, and so to me, he

was kind of like an all around player. And then if you go back to his college days, he was a very good college player and part of this college um tree, if you will, a legendary coach named Taps

Gallagher started and coming out of that school. Cool at the time were three guys who ended up being NBA and ABA head coaches, Frank Layton, Larry Costello and hughby Brown and um and I remember, you know, won't get to the coaching part yet, but but to me, I remember talking to Tom Heinson about Larry Costello one time on my talk show and when I was working in upstate New York, and he went out of his way to give him praise as far as the talented player.

He says, people don't know how good that guy was. And he goes, but he said he wouldn't you know, he would have been a guy that that you know, he felt would have fitted in on the Celtics because he would do things that you know, he could have scored. He goes, he goes, twenty and nine if he wanted every night, but he would make plays for other guys to try to help the team win. He goes he was all about trying to not only beat you physically, but beat you in in terms of the game. The

respect that Oscar had for Larry was great enough. So Larry called him to come up and speak at his basketball camping up State New York, and Oscar came. Now, you know, Oscar doesn't do you know, a lot. You know, you don't see him on the banquet circuit and he's not doing a lot of that stuff. But but he flew into you know, Judica, New York, which is out a very big place, and showed up and I'm sure Larry compensated him, but it couldn't have been that much.

Uh and and so, But that he came out of respect for Larry and the fact that he played against him and uh and was coached by him, and they want a championship together. That he came up and he you know, he did did my talk show, he did the local TV and I spoke to the campers, and you know, he was you know, he was very respectful of Larry, and I appreciated him. Well. Here at six or History, we never missed an opportunity to try to

get some Wood Chamberlain stories. And fortunately for us, Larry Costello played with and against World Chamberlain, so we got some Wood Chamberlain stories. I basically I remember him telling me that Wilt could do whatever he wanted to do on the floor, and almost any given time he said that, you know, Russell would Russell would give him problems like Russell gave everybody problems. But but for the most part,

he said, says, Will could do whatever he wanted. And he pointed to that year where you know, Will let the league and assists where he said, look, you know he went out and said I'm gonna legal league and assists and went out and just did it and helped the team because that's what they you know, they asked Hoxham asked him to do that, and you know he went out and average around and eight assist at night and they became a much better team than they won.

And then he says, we'll put his mind to do it. And when he you know, when he did that, he says he was remarkable and he'd also, uh, he said, Will physically could have been a real, you know, nasty guy to a lot of players if he wanted to. He says that he says he saw will get his shot blocked at the rim a couple of times by guys.

I mean not going to mention names because I think they're still alive, but uh, and then we'll go down the floor the other way and said, you know, I let you block that dunk because I would have broken your wrist by fall. True, and so next time think about that. You know, I'm paraphrasing. I'm not sure that was the exact language. Yeah, it's a little more culporful than that. But uh. But but he says, I, I know he did a couple of times because he didn't want to hurt the guy, you know, and so he

let him block a shot. And then but he would let him know that I let you block that shot because I didn't want to break your arm. You're not kind of like, oh okay, he said one of the guys. Uh said, well, well he goes looks like it was thanks Pisa, you want walked away and was like, oh so yeah. He he was really impressed with Wilton and

m and uh and like it. Like like I said, I said, he enjoyed playing with him, you know, in the back end of his career, that the last couple of years because he loved the fact that that Alex Hannum and Wills had a great understanding and it just made that team, you know, as devastating as it was.

So as always here is Sixers history. When we have someone recalling an old friend, an old teammate, an old coach, we'd like to give that person an opportunity to summarize the influence, the impact, what meaning that person held for them. So here's Tim Roy providing for us his thoughts, his final summary, his final account of Larry Costello what he meant to him as a player, friend, basketball coach. Well, you don't the one other anecdote I'd love to get

in if I can, Yeah, sure it is. I spoke to Hugh by Brown a few years ago when the Lawyers were in the finals, and I did an interview with him about the ABA and about you know, all the great times and stories they had, and then I finished it with a question about Larry. I said, look, you know I worked with Larry, and he went on about you know, just how you know Larry, you know, let him have that job and gave him a chance.

He goes without Larry hiring me in Milwaukee to be his assistant, I would not have the career that I have, you know, it says he He hired me and and and trusted me, and he goes and I learned so much about coaching basketball, about you know, coaching men, about dealing with you know, other teams and opposition and scouting because they were he said, they were one of the first teams to really start filming and looking at film and things like that, and and um and so he said,

in that way, he was kind of a little bit of ahead of ahead of the rest of the league. And uh and he said he just you know, it allowed hit him to grow to be the coach that he became. Um So, so that's one thing that you know, Larry was also you know giving back and doing some different you know things to help other guys you know, follow his bath. But for Larry, he was a gregacious guy, a tough guy. Um Uh. He was a guy that that was was hard nosed, but he did have he

did have a compassionate side. And he was always willing to uh to listen to a good story. And I think personally and no talking ill of any of the

folks that have gotten in the last few years. But I think when you look at his since it is a basketball Hall of Fame and not just an NBA Hall of Fame, I think if you look at his body of work as a college player, as a pro player as you mentioned, six time All Star, and as a coach, even though his coaching career was not long, but he did have you know, his record with the Bucks was unbelievable, and you know, I think I think when you add all that up, I think, and I

know he's been nominating the past, but I think he deserves another look. I think he you know, if you look at some of the clateria that has been used to get some players in there, I think, and we can kick a look at him as a whole. I think he did a lot of fastball. All right. That

concludes another episode the Sixers History the podcast. I'd like to thank Tim Roy, who was a busy, busy man, for taking time out of his schedule to talk with us about Larry Costello, who is, when you get down to it, one of the best point guards in franchise history. So I'm very appreciative we were able to get someone who knew Larry was able to speak about him as a player, a coach, and really also as a person so we can learn as much about him as possible.

So thanks to y'all for listening. See a background here real soon