Seven "Plays"` In Honor of The Man Who Built The Celtics Dynasty

"Growing up in Boston in the 70's and 80's, we possessed three treasures that nobody else
had: Fenway, The Garden, and Red.  He was our trump card. He had mystical powers.
He made things happen. He fleeced other teams. He found diamonds in the rough. 
He intimidated officials. He stamped his winning imprint on everyone and everything.
He WAS the Celtics. Sixteen championships in 30 years...and they all happened because
of him."

Bill Simmons, "Seeing Red After All These Years"

While there may be no collection of words that better describes the impact Red had on Boston, or the appreciation Bostonians had for him and his immeasureable contribution to the Celtics dynasty-really, the creation of it-you don't have to have been alive for the 50's, 60's, 70's, or 80's to see the impact of his greatness.  At every home game for the Celtics, 23 numbers hang above the floor, and while only one technically hangs in his name, it's not only the #2 that you can attribute to Red Auerbach, for whether it be as a coach, GM, or President of Basketball operations, he had a hand in the careers of every Celtic from his arrival in Boston in 1950, til his death in 2008.  Today, October 28th, marks the 13th anniversary of his death, and in his honor I wanted to give you "7 plays", or 7 things every basketball fan-not just Celtic fan-should know about one of the greatest coaches, leaders, and men who ever lived.

1) Seven Plays
For those who don't understand the reference in the title, Red famously ran only 7 basic offensive plays throughout his coaching career.  His coaching philosophy was built around the fast break, and he built his team around that philosophy.  Upon his arrival in Boston, he had a point guard who could run the fast break in Bob Cousy, he just needed a big man who could rebound and outlet quickly enough that three players in transition could catch the defenders off-guard and score at will.  He found that in Bill Russell, a dominant defender and rebounder out of San Francisco.  He boldly traded a future hall of fame center in Ed Macauley, and rookie Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the pick that he would select Russell with.  He'd pick K.C. Jones and Tom Heinsohn later in that same draft, and they along with Cousy would form the nucleus of the Celtics for what would be an all time great title run.

Red Auerbach, pictured here with Chuck Cooper.

2) Red broke the NBA's "color barrier"
With three major moves, Red was single-handedly responsible for completely demolishing the NBA's "color barrier" in the 50's and 60's.  In 1950, he drafted the first black player Chuck Cooper, a 6'5" swingman out of Duquesne.  Chuck would play 4 years for the Celtics before being traded to the Milwaukee Hawks.  Two years later, his playing career would come to an end due to injuries he sustained in a car crash.

In 1964, Auerbach would again push at the NBA's "color barrier", starting the first all black starting 5, when he sent out Bill Russell, Willie Naulls, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, and Tom Sanders to tip off the game.  That team would go 62-18 that year, winning their 8th title in 9 years under Auerbach.

Then in 1966, Auerbach completed his demolition of the color barrier, stepping down as coach to focus on his GM duties, and making Bill Russell player/coach, and the first black coach in NBA history.  Russell would stay on as player/coach of the Celtics for three seasons, compiling a 162-83 record and winning two championships.

Auerbach's celebratory cigar, when a win was well in hand
became the ultimate symbol of success in Boston.

3) Prior coaching stints
While Red's legacy was built with the Celtics, he actually spent four years coaching other professional basketball teams prior to coming to Boston.  In fact, he had his single best season in terms of winning percentage with the Washington Capitols in their inaugural season, with a record of 49-11, for an .817 win percentage.  While his time with the Capitols wouldn't produce any titles, his three year win percentage of .685 would be better than the 16 years he spent with the Celtics, during which his teams had a total win percentage of .667.  Despite his success in the win/loss column, Red resigned after his third season following philosophical differences with team ownership.

Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale
would become the nucleus the Celtics would
build their 1980's dynasty around, winning
three titles throughout the decade.

4) "The Steal of the Century"
Red was well known for swindling other teams in lop-sided deals.  Perhaps his greatest off-season ever, was in the 1980 off-season, when he made an acquisition later referred to as "The Steal of the Century".  The Celtics had recently drafted Larry Bird, a player who they had to wait a year to suit up as he finished his college career.  During Bird's rookie year, the Celtics went from 29-53 the year before, to 61-21, losing in the Eastern Conference finals to the 76ers.  Then, Cowens retired, leaving a huge void on the interior for the Celtics.

The year before, Red had traded Bob McAdoo to the Pistons for their pick in the 1980 draft.  The Pistons went on to have the worst record in the East, which lead to a coin flip between them and the worst record in the West for the first overall pick.  Red won that coin flip, and armed with both the first overall pick and the knowledge that Warriors GM Al Attles coveted center Joe Barre Carroll in the draft, Red talked him into a deal for the first overall pick.  Golden State would send young developing center Robert Parish and the third overall pick to Boston in exchange for the third overall pick from Golden State-which Red would then used to draft power forward Kevin McHale, out of Minnesota.  Parish, McHale, and Bird would become the nucleus the Celtics would build their championship teams of the 1980's around, leading Boston to three titles in that decade.

5) The 1982 Draft
While Red made a lot of draft picks, and shrewd off-season moves throughout his career, perhaps none was more memorable than a late round pick in the 1982 draft.  Red was good friends with then Indiana coach Bobby Knight, dating back to the 1960's, when Red drafted Knight's college teammate John Havlicek.  Their friendship grew throughout the years, and after Knight and Indiana star Landon Turner lead Indiana to the NCAA championship in 1981, Turner suffered injuries in a horrifying car accident that left him paralyzed, and unable to ever play basketball again.  During a conversation between the two great coaches, Bobby mentioned that it would mean a lot if the Celtics symbolically drafted Turner, which Red was happy to do in the tenth round of the 1982 draft.  But he went a step further, flying Turner to Boston, and presenting him with a Celtics jersey of his own.  According to Bobby Knight in the book "Let Me Tell You A Story", copyrighted in 2004, Turner still talked about it to that day, as the gesture meant the world to him.

6) Red once coached the Washington Redskins
In the 1940's, the NFL wasn't the overly profitable league it is today, and as such players didn't make nearly as much.  In the off-season, they needed additional forms of income, and the Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants had all formed basketball teams, that traveled around, playing each other during the off-season, to generate some off-season income.  While Red was in the Navy, stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital, he met then starting defensive tackle Fred Davis, for the Redskins, and they would often play one-on-one together.  During one of these sessions, Davis suggested that Red coach their off-season team, given his coaching background at the high school level.  Red agreed, and coached the team for the 1945 and 1946 off-season.  It was here that he got his introduction to Mike Uline, who was part of a group of businessmen starting up a professional basketball league.  Uline owned the arena the Redskins' basketball games were played in, and had seen Red coach.  He offered him $5,000 to coach his new team; the Washington Capitols.  This would be the start of Red's professional coaching career.


7) Red invented the concept of the "Sixth Man"

Red, pictured above with Bill Russell and one of the game's
greatest sixth men; John Havlicek

In today's NBA, the Sixth Man is a common concept, a player who is one of your better players, that doesn't start, but often finishes games.  He comes in fresh, when the other team's starters are beginning to tire a bit.  In the 1940's, general winning philosophy was that you put your 5 best guys out there until they were too tired, then swapped in some subs until your best guys were ready to go back in.  Red-innovator that he was-saw things differently.  "When a game or a half starts, both teams get into a certain rhythm.  After a little while, a little bit of fatigue sets in and everyone begins to lose just a little.  My thought was, If I send one of my two or three best players into the game at that point and he's completely fresh, he's going to be able to take advantage of people.  He'll probably make some plays right away because his legs are fresh.  In turn, that gives my other guys a burst of energy and picks up the whole team."
Red began employing this concept in Washington, where Irv Torgoff served as sixth man.  In Boston, players like Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek, Paul Silas, and Kevin McHale played the sixth man role.  Three of those four players are now in the hall of fame, and all four were selected to all star teams.  The concept of the sixth man was just one of many impactful ideas Red came up with, that we take for granted as just simply a part of the game today.

There they are, seven things everyone should know about Celtics legend Red Auerbach, who in 1980 was voted as the greatest NBA coach ever, and even still today is recognized as one of the ten best coaches of all time.  The man who single-handedly built the Celtics dynasty, and helped transform the NBA into the league we all know and love today.  Rest in peace Red.