Red Auerbach

Wayco Wayne_2

He was from Wahsington DC and played basketball for GW. A better coach than a player he averaged 6 points a game but coaching led early DC teams of the NBA to championships in the early 50's. We have a sports talk show on the radio in the afternoon hosted by John Thompson of Georgtown Coaching fame. He was the back up center for Bill Russell back when the Celts were winning all of those championships. He might have been starting for lesser teams in the league. (He also played center for Providence when they won the NCAA title back when the championship was shared with the NIT tourney) He would have Red on his talk show often. Even in his advanced 80's the man was sharp as a tack and had very lucid opinions on current affairs of the NBA. He was a Giant and a leader of more than men. We are diminished by his passing. WW

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ScottMP

I can't believe no one has mentioned his passing away ?

Red Auerbach was a giant in the game of basketball, not just for the Celtics but for the whole NBA. The NBA woulld not be what is now ( or maybe was ) if not for Red.

Sure other team Coachs hated him for lighting up his victory cigar before the game was over. Sure he was in the face of the referees. He could be mean to some. But the man loved the game.

Bob Cousy said this about Red :

I think Arnold was an absolute giant in the field," the former Celtics point guard said Saturday. "I have been around a lot of competitive people but his commitment to winning was absolute nothing was more important. He was relentless and produced the greatest basketball dynasty so far that this country has ever seen and certainly that the NBA has ever seen."

I remember Bob Cousey, Havilchek, Bill Russel. But for me it was McHale, Parrish and Larry Bird. All picked by Red.

Untill 1994 he was the winningest Coach in the NBA and more coachs in the NBA played for him than any other coach.

Light One Up Red. We'll miss you here in Boston.

Scott


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Mad Dog_2

NOT a basketball OR baseball fan, but we lost another

class act, Scott. No comparison to the vast majority of coaches players or GMs today. God rest his B-Ball soul. Mad Dog

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ScottMP

Maddog

Just another one of those Boston Legonds that make growing up with sports in Boston so great.

Bobby Orr

Larry Bird

John Havilchek

Ted Williams

Red Auerback

Red used to light up a victory cigar everytime he figured his team had the game sewn up. It used to piss of the other coachs and his team hated it because the other players would get made and play harder. Still when you saw him lighting up it was " YEA .."

Scott

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Wayco Wayne_2

The radio was nothing but

Red Auerbach storys today. John Feinstein recently wrote a book with him and was full of anecdotes. Apparently lighting up the cigar was initially meant as a signal to his players to relax and not to run the score up too much, but it was met with such acrimony that he sort of liked messing with the other coaches minds and did it for other reasons too. Apparently he stayed in Washington DC so his daughter, who suffered from asthma, would not have to face the more severe Boston Winters. Plus he eventually found it was better to be away from his family during the season because he would get so intense and frustrated he'd rather not put his loved ones through it. I think I'll be picking up JF's book real soon. WW

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