Russell makes the disclaimer early on that he doesn’t know what specific traits Auerbach could attribute to his tribe, but they meshed nicely with Russell’s. Much of the specifics of their relationship went unspoken — they were intuitive. One example was when the two men had reached a point in their relationship that when a question came up that required a “yes” or “no” answer, either answer was fine. It didn’t matter. They would both understand. How many friendships could benefit from such a mutual respect!
Russell’s well written book takes readers through a series of incidents and conversations to illustrate his advice on what it takes to create long lasting, deeply meaningful relationships. He writes about how Auerbach used his skills not just with himself, but with every member of the Celtics. Auerbach had the ability to tailor his approach to get the most of each relationship — for the benefit of the team. Russell’s principles apply to all arenas of human interaction and such areas as race relations and parenting could certainly benefit just as much as coaching and teamwork.
Would I buy Red and Me? Yes. It’s the best book on interpersonal relationships I’ve read since How to Win Friends and Influence People. It’s also a “buy” for me because I’ve been a Boston Celtics fan for over 40 years.
Article comments
1 - Reese McKay
This is a great book to review, Chip. Thanks for recommending it to your friends. I heard Bill Russell talking about his special friendship with Red Auerbach (I believe it was on a radio interview, but can't remember for sure). I still remember watching those Celtic teams winning some of those 13 championships. They were awesome. And I believe that Bill Russell is still the greatest defensive basketball player in NBA history. I have never seen another player who could do what he did routinely on defense. He often ended up alone on the defensive end of the court defending against two of the other team's players coming down on a fast break. He very frequently stopped them both from scoring.