September 20, 1917, 100 years ago: Arnold Jacob Auerbach is born in Brooklyn. Known as "Red" for his hair, when he had hair, he played basketball at Eastern District High School in Brooklyn, then went to George Washington University, and lived in Washington, D.C. for the rest of his life.
He coached the Washington Capitols to the NBA Finals in 1949. If the Caps had tried harder to keep him, D.C. basketball might now have more than just 1 title, the one won in 1978 by the Washington Bullets, the team now named the Washington Wizards. But the Capitols traded his best players away, and he resigned in disgust.
He was hired by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, based in Moline, Illinois. Moline and Rock Island Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, were then known as the Tri-Cities. Bettendorf, Iowa grew enough to join them, so they became the Quad Cities.) But this team, now the Atlanta Hawks, could only keep him for one season.
In 1950, he was hired by Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Celtics, the NHL's Boston Bruins, and their arena, the Boston Garden. The rest is history.
By 1957, he had built the greatest franchise in NBA history. In 1966, after 9 NBA Championships, including 8 in 9 years, he stepped down as head coach, staying on as general manager, and hired his best player, Bill Russell, as the 1st black head coach in modern major league sports.
Through careful understanding of both basketball talent and the rules of trading and drafting, he acquired the following players for the Celtics, in chronological order, all of them now in the Basketball Hall of Fame: Bob Cousy, Ed Macauley, Chuck Cooper, Bill Sharman, Bob Houbregs, Frank Ramsey, Arnie Risen, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Andy Phillip, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones (no relation), Carl Braun, Clyde Lovellette, John Havliceck, Bailey Howell, Jo Jo White, Dave Cowens, Paul Westphal, Charlie Scott, Nate "Tiny" Archibald, Larry Bird, Bob McAdoo, Pete Maravich, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton.
(Houbregs, Braun, and McAdoo each only played 1 season with the Celtics. Risen and Phillip were probably already HOFers, from their time together on the Fort Wayne Pistons, but they did help the Celtics win their 1st title in 1957. Bing and Maravich only played for them at the ends of their careers.)
He was not above cheating, like any good Boston sports personality: He let his players get away with the kind of rough play that, had ESPN been around at the time to show endless replays, would have gotten them multiple suspensions. He would have the air-conditioning in the visiting team's locker room turned off, so the heat would get to them. And he knew which referees he could intimidate, and encouraged the league to keep them on the payroll.
Another thing he was not above was rubbing it in. When he thought a game was in the bag, he would light what he called a victory cigar.
A statue of Red now sits (on a bench) at Faneuil Hall in Boston, placed there after their 15th NBA Championship under his leadership. They soon won a 16th. They've only won 1 without him. His bald head is a different color from the rest of the statue, because people rub it for luck. The statue also includes a rolled-up game program and, of course, a cigar in his hand.
The Celtics retired Number 1 for Walter Brown, even though he never actually wore it. Similarly, they retired Number 2 for Red.
He loved Chinese food, explaining that it wasn't a Jewish thing with him: Very often, after games, they were the only restaurants open late. With his beloved cigars in mind, his favorite restaurant in both Boston and Washington had printed on their menus, "No smoking, except for Red Auerbach."
He swore that the Celtics would have cheerleaders over his dead body. He died on October 28, 2006, just before the start of a new season. The Celtics then got cheerleaders.
