Red Auerbach

Red Auerbach

Eastern District (Brooklyn, New York)
College	Seth Low JC (1936–1937) George Washington (1937–1940)
Position	Tri-Cities Blackhawks
1950–1966	Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
As head coach: 9× NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966) NBA Coach of the Year (1965 ) 11× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1957–1967) NBA anniversary team (25th, 35th ) Top 10 Coaches in NBA History Top 15 Coaches in NBA History No. 2 retired by Boston Celtics As executive: 7× NBA champion (1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986) NBA Executive of the Year (1980 )
Career coaching record
NBA	938–479 (.662)
Record at Basketball Reference
Basketball Hall of Fame

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He was a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. He took his legendary Celtics team on an unprecedented championship run, winning eight straight NBA championships from 1959 to 1966.^[1]

Auerbach also served as the head coach of the

Auerbach introduced the fast break strategy as an offensive tool.^[3] This strategy is still widely used in basketball today and has evolved with the modern game. Teams prioritize pace and transition offense more than ever, and many aspects of Auerbach’s fast break philosophy are still fundamental.

He coached numerous players who went on to be inducted into the

In 1941, Auerbach began coaching basketball at the St. Albans School.^[15]

Auerbach coached at

On February 4, 1943, Auerbach appeared in a game for the Harrisburg Senators of the American Basketball League (ABL) and scored one point.^[17]

Auerbach served in the US Navy for three years and coached the Navy basketball team in Norfolk.^[18]

At the US Navy, Auerbach caught the eye of Washington millionaire Mike Uline, who hired him to coach the Washington Capitols in the newly founded Basketball Association of America (BAA), a predecessor of the NBA.^[3]

In the

After leaving the Capitols, Auerbach became assistant coach of the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team.^[20] It was assumed that Auerbach would take over for head coach Gerry Gerard, who was battling cancer. During his tenure at Duke, Auerbach regularly worked with future All-American Dick Groat. Auerbach later wrote that he "felt pretty bad waiting for [Gerard] to die" and that it was "no way to get a job".^[21]

Auerbach left Duke after a few months when

In 1950, Auerbach took a position as the athletic director of Kutsher's Hotel in the Catskills, NY. Kutsher's was the center of a summertime basketball league, and players from the New York City area would participate, playing for one of several local country clubs and hotels.^[22]

Before the

In the following 1951–52 NBA season, Auerbach made a remarkable draft pick of future Hall of Fame guard Bill Sharman. With the high-scoring Macauley, elite passer Cousy, and new prodigy Sharman, Auerbach had a core that provided high-octane fast-break basketball. Other notable players who joined the Celtics were the forwards Frank Ramsey and Jim Loscutoff. Until 1956, the Celtics would make the playoffs every year but never won a title. The Celtics often choked in the playoffs, going 10–17 in the postseason from 1951 through 1956.^[12] As Cousy put it: "We would get tired in the end and could not get the ball."^[24] As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive big man who could get easy rebounds, initiate fast breaks, and close out games.^[3]

Before the

Anchored by defensive stalwart Russell, the tough Celtics forced their opponents to take low-percentage shots from farther distances (there was no three-point arc at the time); misses were then often grabbed by perennial rebounding champion Russell, who then either passed it on to elite fast-break distributor Cousy or made the outlet pass himself, providing their sprinting colleague's opportunities for an easy slam dunk or layup.^[3] Auerbach also emphasized the need for role players like Frank Ramsey and John Havlicek, who became two of the first legitimate sixth men in NBA history,^[24] a role later played by Don Nelson. Auerbach's recipe proved devastating to the opposition. From 1957 to 1966, the Celtics won nine of ten NBA championships. This included eight consecutive championships— the longest championship streak in North American sports—and six victories over the Los Angeles Lakers of Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in the NBA Finals. The streak also denied perennial scoring and rebounding champion Wilt Chamberlain a title during Auerbach's coaching reign.^[25]

Flowing from Auerbach's emphasis on teamwork, what was also striking about his teams was that they never seemed to have a dominant scorer: in the 1960–61 NBA season, for instance, the Celtics had six players who scored between 15 and 21 points per game, but none made the Top 10 scoring list.^[24] In 1964, he sent out the first-ever NBA starting five consisting of an African-American quintet, namely Russell, Willie Naulls, Tom Sanders, Sam Jones, and K. C. Jones. Auerbach would go a step further in the 1966–67 NBA season, when he stepped down after winning nine titles in 11 years and made Bill Russell player-coach. Auerbach also popularized smoking a victory cigar whenever he thought a game was already decided, a habit that became cult-like in popularity in the Boston area.^[24] Furthermore, having acquired a reputation as a fierce competitor, he often got into verbal altercations with officials, receiving more fines and getting ejected more often than any other coach in NBA history.^[24]

All in all, Auerbach directly coached nine NBA championship teams and mentored four players—Russell, Sharman, Heinsohn, and K.C. Jones—who would go on to win an additional seven NBA championships as coaches (two each for Russell, Heinsohn and Jones, all with the Celtics, and one for Sharman with the

Before the 1965–66 NBA season, Auerbach announced the coming year would be his last as coach, stating to the rest of the league, "This is your chance to take your last shot at me." After losing game 1 of the 1966 finals to the Lakers in overtime, he publicly named his successor, center Bill Russell. The Celtics won the series in seven games, sending Auerbach out on top.

Russell then took over as a player-coach, and so became the first

However, Auerbach could not prevent the Celtics from going into a slump at the end of the 1970s. He traded away both Silas and Westphal because they wanted salary increases that would have made them higher earners than the best player on the Celtics (Cowens), which was not acceptable to Auerbach. While the Westphal trade to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Charlie Scott was considered a success due to the Celtics' 13th title in 1976, Auerbach later admitted he erred in letting Silas go, even after Cowens personally begged him to give Silas a new deal. When Havlicek retired in 1978, the Celtics went 61–103 in two seasons.[12] In the summer of 1978, after the worst in a string of contentious clashes with several different owners after Walter Brown's passing in 1964, Auerbach hopped into a taxi to take him to Logan Airport, where he was to board a flight to New York to consider a lucrative contract offer from Knicks owner Sonny Werblin. However, the cab driver pleaded with him to stay, emphasizing how much Bostonians loved him and considered him family.^[26] Soon after, heading a team press conference, and with his typical bravado, Auerbach puffed on his trademark cigar and stated, "I'm not going anywhere. We're going to sign Larry Bird, and we're going to be on top again." Despite knowing that Bird, a talented young player from unheralded Indiana State, had a year of college eligibility remaining, he had drafted Bird as a junior eligible in the 1978 NBA draft. He waited for a year until the future Hall of Fame forward Bird arrived, finally setting aside his team salary rules when it became clear that his choices were paying Bird a record-setting rookie salary or watch him re-enter the 1979 draft. Bird then became the highest-paid Celtic as a rookie, with a $650,000-per-year deal. Auerbach knew the brilliant, hard-working Bird would be the cornerstone of a new Celtics generation.^[3]

In 1980, Auerbach pulled off what became known as "The Steal of The Century".

In 1983, Auerbach named former Celtics player K.C. Jones as the coach. Starting in 1984, Jones coached the Celtics to four straight appearances in the NBA Finals, winning championships in 1984 and 1986.

Auerbach, as a part-time side gig, was the

In 1984, after he relinquished his general managing duties to Jan Volk, Auerbach focused on continuing as president and later vice-chairman of the Boston Celtics.^[12] In a surprising move after winning their 15th title, he traded popular guard Gerald Henderson, the game-2 hero in the finals against the Lakers, for Seattle's first-round draft pick in 1986. Two years later, after the Celtics defeated Houston in the finals for their 16th championship, he used the second overall pick in the 1986 draft, the pick acquired from Seattle, to take college prodigy Len Bias from Maryland, arguably the most brilliant coup in Auerbach's stellar career. With the team's star players still in their prime, the defending champions appeared set to compete at the top for years. However, tragedy struck just two days later, when Bias died of a cocaine overdose. Several years later, Celtics star player Reggie Lewis died suddenly in 1993. Without any league compensation for either loss, the team fell into decline, not seeing another Finals in Auerbach's lifetime.^[12]

In an interview, Auerbach confessed that he lost interest in big-time managing in the early 1990s, preferring to stay in the background and concentrating on his pastimes, racquetball and his beloved cigar-smoking. He would, however, stay on with the Celtics as president until 1997, as vice chairman until 2001, and then became president again, a position he held until his death,^[24] although, in his final years, he was weakened by heart problems and often used a wheelchair.^[30]

Auerbach was one of four children of American-born Marie Auerbach and

Auerbach was known for his love of cigar smoking. Due to his affinity for victory cigars in the 1960s, Boston restaurants often said "No cigar or pipe smoking, except for Red Auerbach".[24] In addition, Auerbach was well known for his love of Chinese food. In an interview shortly before his death, he explained that since the 1950s, Chinese takeout was the most convenient nutrition: NBA teams used to travel on regular flights and had a tight schedule, so filling up the stomach with heavier non-Chinese food meant wasting time and risking travel-sickness. Over the years, Auerbach became so fond of this food that he even became a part-owner of a Chinese restaurant in Boston.^[25] Despite a heart operation, he remained active in his 80s, playing racquetball and making frequent public appearances.

Despite his fierce nature, Auerbach was popular among his players. He recalled that at his 75th birthday party, 45 of his former players showed up;^[24] and when he turned 80, his perennial 1960s-era foe Wilt Chamberlain showed up, a gesture Auerbach dearly appreciated.^[25]

In an interview with ESPN, Auerbach stated that his all-star fantasy team would consist of Bill Russell—who in the former's opinion was the ultimate player to start a franchise with—as well as Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, with John Havlicek as the sixth man. As for the greatest basketballers of all time, Auerbach's candidates were Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan. Auerbach made multiple such "all-time" rankings over the years, with his last one being in June 2006, months before his death. Auerbach talked about his fictional team with journalist Ken Shouler which featured the following: Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain, and Russell at center; Bird, Erving, Pettit, and Baylor at forward; and Robertson, Jordan, Havlicek, Johnson, and Cousy at guard.^[24]

Auerbach died of a heart attack on October 28, 2006, at the age of 89.^[32] NBA commissioner David Stern said, "The void caused by his death will never be filled" and players Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, John Havlicek and Larry Bird, as well as contemporaries like Jerry West, Pat Riley, and Wayne Embry universally hailed Auerbach as one of the greatest personalities in NBA history.^[30] Bird stated "Red shared our passion for the game, our commitment to excellence, and our desire to do whatever it takes to win." Auerbach was survived by his daughters, Nancy, Randy, Julie, and Julie's children Peter, Hope, and Noelle. Auerbach was interred in Falls Church, Virginia at King David Memorial Gardens within National Memorial Park on October 31, 2006. Attendees included basketball dignitaries Bill Russell, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, and David Stern.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2006–07 NBA season, NBA TV and NBA.com aired reruns of Auerbach's four-minute instructional videos known as "Red on Roundball" previously aired during NBA on CBS halftime shows in the 1970s and 1980s, and as a testament to his importance in the Boston sports world, the Boston Red Sox honored Auerbach at their April 20, 2007 game against the New York Yankees by wearing green uniforms and by hanging replicated Celtics championship banners on the "Green Monster" at Fenway Park. Boston won 7–6.^[33][34]

Before Boston's

Auerbach was the author of seven books. His first, Basketball for the Player, the Fan and Coach, has been translated into seven languages and is the best-selling basketball book in print.^[3] His second book, co-authored with Paul Sann, was Winning the Hard Way. He also wrote a pair of books with Joe Fitzgerald: Red Auerbach: An Autobiography and Red Auerbach On and Off the Court. In October 1991 M.B.A.: Management by Auerbach was co-authored with Ken Dooley. In 1994, Seeing Red was written with Dan Shaughnessy. In October 2004, his last book, Let Me Tell You a Story, was co-authored with sports journalist John Feinstein.

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Among Auerbach's accomplishments during his 20-year professional coaching career were eleven Eastern Division titles (including nine in a row from 1957 to 1965), eleven appearances in the finals (including ten in a row from 1957 to 1966), and nine NBA championships. With a total of sixteen NBA championship rings in 29 years (1957–86) as the Celtics coach, general manager, and team president, Auerbach is the most successful team official in NBA history.^[3] He is credited with creating several generations of championship Boston Celtics teams, including the first Celtics dynasty with Bill Russell, which won an NBA record eight titles in a row (1959–66). As Celtics general manager, he created championship-winning teams around Hall-of-Famers Dave Cowens and John Havlicek in the 1970s and Larry Bird in the 1980s.^[3]

In addition to coaching, Auerbach was a highly effective mentor; several players coached by Auerbach became successful coaches.

Throughout his coaching tenure in Boston, Auerbach served several other roles including, but not limited to, general manager, head of scouting, personnel director, and travel agent.[36] In the early off-seasons, he would take the Celtics on barnstorming tours around New England, promoting the still fledgling NBA. At the end of every season, regardless of their on-court success, he approached owner Brown and asked, "Walter, are our last paychecks going to clear?" to which Brown would always positively respond, and they would. Despite Brown's close association with the NHL's Boston Bruins, whose owners also possessed the Boston Garden, the Celtics were fleeced on concessions and profits as tenants. During this era, when most team owners not only thought of but also treated their players as cattle, athletes from all four major professional sports leagues were fighting for their rights and economic fairness. As Auerbach represented the management of the Celtics, team members frustrated with their salaries had only him to complain to, or about, in their role in the players' union. These interpersonal dynamics are construed as follows by journalist David Halberstam:^[37]

The hard core of the union came from the Celtics. That was not surprising; Red Auerbach went after the players of the highest intelligence and character, and then of course paid them horribly. That made the Celtics a mass of contradictions. They had a great team spirit, personal loyalty to each other, respect and love for Auerbach, who had created this unique institution and honored each of them by making him a part of it, and then of course great anger at him for paying them so little.

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Auerbach was known for his firm stance in contract negotiations, typically starting discussions with what he considered a fair offer and maintaining his position throughout the process.^[38] In the summer of 1984, Auerbach signed former finals MVP Cedric Maxwell to a guaranteed contract to stay with the Celtics. Auerbach faced a setback when Maxwell arrived that fall out of shape and, suffering from injuries, contributed little as the team was defeated by the Lakers in the 1985 Finals. Two key events followed: Auerbach traded Maxwell to San Diego in exchange for former MVP Bill Walton, who played a significant role in winning its 16th title in 1986, the last championship during Auerbach's tenure. Second, Maxwell remains a respected figure within the Celtics organization, with his number retired alongside other notable players.^{[citation needed][39]}

In Auerbach's honor, the Celtics retired a number-2 jersey with his name, recognizing his significant contributions to the franchise, second only to founder Walter Brown, who is honored with the number-1 'BROWN' jersey.^[40]

His story is portrayed in the 2006 documentary The First Basket. It focuses on the history of Jews in Basketball. He is also featured as an interview subject for the film.^[41]

From his early days, Auerbach was convinced that the fast break, where a team used a quick outlet pass to fast guards who ran downcourt and scored before the opponent had re-established position, was a potent tactical weapon. This new strategy proved lethal for the opposition.^[3] Further, Auerbach moved the emphasis away from individual accolades to teamwork.^[12] He also invented the concept of the role player and the sixth man,^[3][42] stating: "Individual honors are nice, but no Celtic has ever gone out of his way achieving them. We have never had the league's top scorer. We won seven league championships without placing even one among the league's top 10 scorers. Our pride was never rooted in statistics."^[12]

While Auerbach was not known for his tactical bandwidth, famously restricting his teams to just seven plays,^[12] he was well known for his psychological warfare, often provoking opposing players and officials with unabashed trash talk. For his fiery temper, he was ejected more often and received more fines than any other coach in NBA history.^[24] Age did nothing to diminish his fire; in 1983, after star Larry Bird was ejected from a preseason game against Philadelphia at the Garden along with the Sixers' role player Marc Iavaroni, Auerbach stormed onto the court and after taking the officials to task, screamed nose-to-nose with the 6'10" 260-pound Moses Malone. Concerning his own team, Auerbach was softer. Earl Lloyd, the first black player to play in the NBA, said: "Red Auerbach convinced his players that he loved them... so all they wanted to do was please him."^[24]

Auerbach was known for choosing players for talent and motivation, regardless of skin color or ethnicity.

To honor Auerbach, the Celtics created the Arnold "Red" Auerbach Award in 2006. It is an annual award to the current Celtic player or coach who "best exemplifies the spirit and meaning of a true Celtic."[45]

The

• The First Basket
• List of select Jewish basketball players
• List of NBA championship head coaches
• Statue of Red Auerbach