It’s hard to think about celebratory cigars without thinking of Red Auerbach. A man known as much for his cigar smoking as his command of the court, Auerbach went down in history as one of the most colorful basketball coaches of all time. He also knew a thing or two about success: under Auerbach, the Boston Celtics won nine NBA championships and finished with a record of 1037 wins and 548 losses. Still to this day, the 1960’s Celtics teams remain among the most dominant in the history of professional sports.
After coaching high school, joining the navy, and coaching in the Basketball Association of America, Auerbach became the Celtics head coach in 1950. He spent the next several years building his team to greatness and it paid off: between 1959 and 1966 the Boston Celtics were unstoppable, serving as NBA champions for eight years straight. During the 1965 season, Auerbach was named Coach of the Year. The Celtics were a basketball dynasty and Auerbach was their king.
Auerbach was also known as one of the first coaches in the NBA to help break the race barrier. In 1950, he became the first coach to ever draft an African American player. In 1963, he became the first coach to start five African-American players. And, upon his retirement in 1966, Auerbach named Bill Russell as his successor, making Russell the first African-American head coach of an American professional sports team.
Auerbach was not known for strategy, his playbook did not consist of a series of plays and routes to run. Instead, he had a keen sense of discovering talent: he simply knew who was going to be great. He looked for the in control point guard, and the exceptional rebounder and added in three other talented players, those who could both shoot and play defense. From there, he motivated his team in the manner that only a Red Auerbach could.
Article comments