Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As head coach, he led the Boston Celtics to eight consecutive NBA championships between 1959 to 1966. On retiring in 1966, he held an NBA coaching record of 938 wins. He served as general manager of the Celtics from 1966 to 1984, and later as President and Vice-Chairman of the Board. He won a combined 16 NBA titles in his 29 years with the Celtics, the most of any individual, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports. He served as president of the Celtics until his death in 2006 at the age of 89.
Auerbach coached many players who were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He also played a key role in decreasing racial discrimination in the NBA. In 1950, he drafted Chuck Cooper, the NBA's first African-American player. In 1965, he introduced the first African-American starting five. In 1966, he hired Bill Russell as the NBA's first African-American head coach.
Auerbach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1980, the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America voted Auerbach the greatest coach in the NBA history. He was also named NBA Executive of the Year in 1980. Auerbach has been regarded as one of the NBA 10 Greatest Coaches in history, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and had his number 2 jersey retired at TD Garden, the Celtics' stadium.
Early life
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on September 20, 1917. Auerbach was one of four children born to Marie and Hyman Auerbach. Hyman, a Russian-Jewish immigrant from Minsk, Russian Empire, arrived in the United States at age thirteen. He married American-born Marie Auerbach. In Brooklyn, the couple first owned a delicatessen before transitioning into the dry-cleaning business. Their son, Auerbach, spent his childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, playing basketball. He earned the nickname "Red" due to his distinctive flaming red hair and fiery temper.During the Great Depression, Auerbach played basketball as a guard at P.S. 122 and Eastern District High School, where he was named "Second Team All-Brooklyn" by the World-Telegram in his senior year.
College career
After a season at Seth Low Junior College, Auerbach received an athletic scholarship to play for the George Washington Colonials men's basketball team in Washington, D.C. Auerbach was regarded as a standout basketball player. Auerbach was a three-time letterman, team captain, and led the team in scoring in 1940. Auerbach graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1940, and a Master of Education in 1941. In those years, Auerbach began to develop the technique known as the fast break.Coaching career
St. Albans School (1941)
In 1941, Auerbach began coaching basketball and teaching at the St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.Roosevelt High School (1941–1943)
Auerbach coached basketball and baseball and taught at Roosevelt High School in Washington, D.C. for two years.On February 4, 1943, Auerbach appeared in a game for the Harrisburg Senators of the American Basketball League and scored one point.
United States Navy
Auerbach enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June 1943. He served for three years as a Rehabilitation and Physical Training officer. He primarily served in a medical capacity at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Auerbach also coached at the Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia. He was released from active duty as a Lieutenant in October 1946.Washington Capitols (1946–1949)
While with the U.S. 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, a predecessor to the NBA.In the 1946–47 BAA season, Auerbach led a fast break-oriented team built around early BAA star Bones McKinney and various ex-Navy players to a 49–11 win–loss record. Their record included a 17-game winning streak that stood as the single-season league record until 1969. In the playoffs, however, they were defeated by the Chicago Stags in six games.
The following year the Capitols went 28–20 but were eliminated from the playoffs in a one-game Western Division tie-breaker. In the 1948–49 season, the Capitols won their first fifteen games and finished at 38–22. The team reached the BAA Finals but were beaten by the Minneapolis Lakers, led by Hall of Famer George Mikan. In the following season, the BAA and the rival National Basketball League merged to become the NBA, and Auerbach felt he had to rebuild his squad. However, owner Uline declined his proposals, and Auerbach resigned.
Duke Blue Devils (1949)
After leaving the Capitols, Auerbach became assistant coach of the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team. 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 to die" and that it was "no way to get a job".Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1949–1950)
Auerbach left Duke after a few months when Ben Kerner, owner of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, gave him the green light to rebuild the team from scratch. Auerbach traded more than two dozen players in just six weeks. The revamped Blackhawks ended the 1949–50 NBA season with a losing record of 28–29. Auerbach resigned when Kerner traded Auerbach's favorite player, John Mahnken.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.
Boston Celtics (1950–1966)
Before the 1950–51 NBA season, Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Celtics, was desperate to turn around his struggling and financially strapped franchise, which was reeling from a 22–46 record. Brown hired Auerbach. In the 1950 NBA draft, Auerbach made some notable moves. First, he famously snubbed future Hall of Fame point guard Bob Cousy. He argued that Cousy lacked the poise necessary to make his team and called him a "local yokel". Instead, he selected Bowling Green center Chuck Share with the first overall pick. Auerbach used the Celtics' second-round pick on Chuck Cooper, the first black player to be drafted into the NBA. This pick effectively broke the color barrier in professional basketball.Entering the 1951 season, the Celtics core players were Ed Macauley, Bones McKinney and Bob Cousy. With Auerbach's fast-break tactics, the Celtics achieved a 39–30 record but lost in the 1951 NBA Playoffs to the New York Knicks. However, the relationship between Auerbach and Cousy improved when the coach help craft the young guard—an already outstanding dribbler and passer—into a great playmaker.
In the following 1951–52 NBA season, the Celtics obtained guard Bill Sharman. Sharman, who was drafted in the second round of the 1950 NBA draft, played his rookie season with the Washington Capitols. When the Capitols folded after the 1950 season, Sharman was selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the dispersal draft and subsequently traded to the Celtics before the 1951 season. With the high-scoring Macauley, elite passer Cousy, and new prodigy Sharman, Auerbach had his team. Other notable players who joined the Celtics during these early years were forwards Frank Ramsey and Jim Loscutoff. For the next five seasons, the Celtics would make the playoffs every year but never won a title. The Celtics struggled in the playoffs, going 10–17 in the postseason from 1951 through 1956. As Cousy put it: "we would get tired in the end and couldn't get the ball." As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive big man who could get easy rebounds, initiate fast breaks, and close out games.
File:Bill Russell and Red Auerbach 1956.jpeg|thumb|Auerbach sitting on the bench next to rookie Bill Russell during a game at Boston Garden on December 26, 1956. Bob Cousy can be seen in the background.
On the day of the 1956 NBA draft, Auerbach acquired Bill Russell, a defensive rebounding center, via a draft-day trade with the rival St. Louis Hawks. Auerbach also selected forward Tom Heinsohn and guard K.C. Jones, two future Hall of Famers. Emphasizing team play rather than individual performances, and stressing that defense was more important than offense, Auerbach drilled his players to play tough defense and force opposing turnovers for easy fast-break points. Forward Tom “Satch” Sanders recalled, "defense and conditioning were the best parts of those teams".
Anchored by Russell, the Celtics forced their opponents to take low-percentage shots from farther distances. This strategy allowed Auerbach's Celtics to take advantage on the fast break. 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, a role later played by Don Nelson. Auerbach's recipe demoralized 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 finals victories over the Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. The Celtics' dominance during this time denied perennial scoring and rebounding champion Wilt Chamberlain a title during Auerbach's coaching reign.
In 1964, Auerbach sent out the first African-American starting five in NBA history. The players were Bill Russell, Willie Naulls, Tom Sanders, Sam Jones, and K.C. Jones. For the 1966–67 NBA season, Auerbach appointed Bill Russell as the first African-American coach in NBA history. Auerbach also popularized smoking a victory cigar whenever he thought a game was already decided, a habit that became a popular tradition in the Boston area. Auerbach had a reputation as a fierce competitor. He often got into verbal altercations with officials and was frequently fined and ejected.
File:Bill Russell and Red Auerbach 1966 Champions.jpg|thumb|Bill Russell next to coach Auerbach after winning the 1966 NBA Finals.
Thirteen players who played for Auerbach have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame—Macauley, Ramsey, Cousy, Sharman, Heinsohn, Clyde Lovellette, Arnie Risen, Andy Phillip, John R. Thompson, Russell, K.C. Jones, Havlicek, and Sam Jones. Sharman, Heinsohn, and Russell would become three of only five people to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as both players and coaches.
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.