Red Auerbach - Early years, Coaching, Executive, Executive, Personal life

Basketball coach, born in New York City, USA. He took up basketball at high school and joined the college team at George Washington University, where he also began coaching. After service in the navy during World War 2, he made his professional coaching debut with the Washington Capitols and led them to two division titles (1947, 1949). In 1950 he took over as coach of the Boston Celtics and developed the team into one of the greatest in the sport. During his career (1950–66), his teams won nine National Basketball Association championships, eight of them consecutively (1959–66). Famous for lighting a cigar after each victory, he retired from coaching in 1966 to become the team's general manager and later club president. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969 and was named the greatest coach in NBA history by the US Professional Basketball Writers' Association in 1980.

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach

Auerbach speaking after being honored with the 2006 Lone Sailor Award on October 25th.
Born:	September 20, 1917 Brooklyn, New York, USA
Died:	October 28, 2006 Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Occupation:	Hall of Fame NBA coach

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American coach and executive for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.

As coach of the Celtics from 1950 to 1966, Auerbach won nine NBA titles, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966 – the longest string of championships in the history of North American professional sports.

In 1980 he was named the greatest coach in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America.

Early years

Born and raised in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, Auerbach was the son of Hyman and Marie A. For several years, the GW men's basketball team hosted and participated in the Red Auerbach Colonial Classic, going undefeated and winning the championship each year that it was held.

Coaching

Auerbach coached the now-defunct Washington Capitols to two division titles in 1947 and 1949.

For a brief period (1949-1950), before returning to the NBA, Auerbach was an assistant coach at Duke University.

Coach of the Celtics

The next season, Auerbach began coaching the Boston Celtics, where he achieved unparalleled success as a professional basketball coach. During his 20 years as a coach, Auerbach won 938 regular season games, a record that stood until Lenny Wilkens broke it in the 1994-95 season. Auerbach is tied with Phil Jackson for the most NBA championship rings as a coach with nine.

As a coach, Auerbach was a pioneer in race relations and was fortunate to work for an owner Walter Brown who was equally color-blind. In Auerbach's first season coaching the Celtics in 1950, Brown and Auerbach chose Chuck Cooper of Duquesne University as the first black player selected in an NBA Draft. When Auerbach named Russell as his coaching successor in 1966, it was the first hiring of a black coach by a major American pro sports team.

Coach Auerbach was no great strategist; But the Celtics ran very few offensive "plays" and Auerbach did not make strategic breakthroughs.

Executive

Auerbach raised eyebrows around the league in 1978 when he drafted Larry Bird as a "junior eligible" and then had to wait a year while Bird finished playing at Indiana State University. If Auerbach and Bird's representatives had not been able to come to an agreement, Bird would have been free to reenter the next year's draft, but Auerbach was confident he could sign Bird and he did.

In 1980, Auerbach made his last great coup — convincing NBA colleagues that he coveted guard Darrell Griffith, and coaxing the Golden State Warriors to trade him a #3 overall pick and center Robert Parish in exchange for the #1 pick in the draft.

In 1986, Auerbach made another deal that looked to solidify the Celtics excellence;

Although Auerbach stepped back from coaching in 1966, he remained as the Celtics' general manager until 1984 and served as the team's president from 1970 to 1997 and from 2001 until his death.

John Feinstein wrote a book with Auerbach entitled Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game.

Executive

Red Auerbach was a polarizing figure;

Auerbach is also famous for lighting up a victory Hoyo de Monterrey cigar when the game was still going on, but victory was assured.

When the Celtics home arena, the FleetCenter, banned smoking, an exception was made for Auerbach.

Auerbach also won the NBA Executive of the Year Award with the Celtics in the 1979-80 season.

Personal life

Auerbach was married to the former Dorothy Lewis from June 6, 1941 until her death in 2000.

In his later years, Red Auerbach was still working with youngsters, coaching at the Red Auerbach Basketball School.

Auerbach also had basketball season tickets at the George Washington University and his seat is colored red, in contrast to the rest of the seats which are blue.

In recent years, Auerbach had been in and out of hospitals for unspecified health problems. (Auerbach's family has requested that information on his condition not be released.) In the summer of 2005, he was unable to attend his own basketball camp and in September he was hospitalized again, but he was released from the hospital in October.

Auerbach died after a heart attack in front of his home in Washington, D.C.

Red Auerbach was buried in Falls Church, Virginia at the King David Memorial Gardens / National Memorial Park on October 31, 2006.