Basketballography: Red Auerbach

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 - October 28, 2006[1]) was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As a coach, he won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and nine National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in ten years (a number surpassed only by Phil Jackson, who won 11 in twenty years). As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.

[@garygraves5596]

Can you imagine ANY NFL team winning 8 consecutive Super Bowls, or any MLB team winning 8 consecutive World Series. Pretty impressive.

[@stevnff]

The Yankees from the 40s-50s were pretty close

[@petegilardi2593]

@@stevnff Yankees won 4 in a row 1936-39 and 5 in a row 49-53 they were close. Even Montreal with all those CUPS never achieved it

[@broadstreet21]

The Montreal Canadiens did well, winning five straight Stanley Cups in 1956-60. They almost matched that feat winning four consecutive Cups in 1976-79.

[@araucanoraptorargentinus3973]

The 1960s Packers and the 2010s Patriots came close though.

[@jesussaves852]

Jesus loves you and may God bless you.

[@jordandwiggins1026]

The 1957 finals has to be one of the most interesting and underrated finals series of all time. I mean 7 game series, 5 of them very close games include 2 double overtime games, the latter of which was Game 7, and the first of which being Game 1, with the score for each team swapping from the first 2OT game to the second. One game begins with Red punching the Hawks manager and the last game ends with a clutch Russel block and Bob Cousy air balling a go-ahead free throw that sets up the finish with the Hawks coach acting as a player-coach in order to make an incredible court length pass that bounced off the backboard and dropped right in Bob Petit’s hands, but he misses the shot to tie the game and the Celtics win the championship. Like a third of the roster for each were swapped earlier on in the season between the two teams, including the players traded from Boston to get Bill Russel, so they were very familiar with each other, and it was the first matchup of several finals series between The Hawks and the Celtics, setting up the revenge story of the next year’s series. It was also the beginning of the Celtics dynasty, with Bill Russel winning his first of 11 titles in his rookie year, with a Game 7 performance of 19 points, a clutch block with 39 seconds left to save the title and 32 rebounds. Besides that, Tom Heinsohn, who was also a rookie, matched up against Petit himself that series and had 37 points and 23 rebounds in the final game.

[@samualcrocket1405]

Great nostalgic video. A lovely bond build by Red and bill.

[@jerryblair2339]

Red was a teacher of the game . He's basketball genis knows what he needs to win

[@loydkline]

Remember his nba basketball half time show: basketball clinic ;;

[@PistolKev]

you're a legend for uploading this

[@cameronsarmiento4102]

10 players 2 baskets 13000 fans one ball...u make the outcome. Amazing

[@dougmacleod1746]

In 1964 I attended Red's summer camp in Marshfield, one night after dinner I saw Red and Sam Jones shoot free throws, Red hit 32 in a row with his two handed set shot. Sam hit 33 in a row while

[@rjplays2331]

Doug MacLeod how old are you now?

[@lloydkline7245]

Doug MacLeod really i love red Auerbach tv clinic on basketball

[@CaptainKirk007]

RJ Plays Gotta be at least early 70’s

[@dusk6159]

@@lloydkline7245 Those are classics

[@angellopez2817]

they say all these coaches from different sports but this guys was hands down the greatest winning coach of all time. sorry pop

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

Aureback # 1. Bill Beliache # not even on the charts because miserable bill doesn't respect players

[@robertbrown8811]

Auerback number 1 def Phil Jackson # 2 although i hate to say it. Celtics fan for life, then maybe Pop

[@broadstreet21]

Pop who? He barely comes close to what Auerbach has accomplished or continues to accomplish through his disciples.

[@ziggzagg8878]

@@broadstreet21 Man won 5 chips and COTY 3 times. Of that's not shit then you have VERY high standards. Lmfao.

[@jordanalexander5275]

I really don't understand how auerbach and Bill Russell aren't mentioned when taking about the greatests of all time

[@danielhansen3982]

For me there are these two coaches who stand out, just a little bit more than all the others in american sports its Mr. Red Auerbach and Mr. Vince Lombardi. :D

[@merkarrand]

Wooden

[@willmorrisusa]

Nothing succeeds like success. Celtic Pride. Fundamentals. Execution. Do what you do best...again & again and again. Winning RINGS

[@broadstreet21]

Perhaps Auerbach's most remarkable achievement is his overwhelming coaching tree. One can assemble a basketball team from all his players who's gone on to have successful coaching careers. Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Don Nelson, KC Jones, Larry Bird, Tom Heinsohn, just to name a few. Bill Sharman, in particular, went on to found the LA Lakers dynasty and unleashed his own overwhelming coaching tree.

[@broadstreet21]

Today, you'd be hard pressed to find an NBA champion with no ties whatsoever to Red Auerbach. - Lakers dynasty was launched by Bill Sharman and his protégé Jerry West: 11 rings. - Miami Heat powerhouse was built by Pat Riley, a Bill Sharman disciple: 3 rings. - Golden State Warriors designed by Jerry West: 3 rings. - San Antonio Spurs built by Gregg Poppovich, one-time assistant of Don Nelson: 5 rings (only two years assistant). - Boston Celtics 2008 championship built by Danny Ainge, coached by Doc Rivers. - Dallas Mavericks 2011 champions coached by Rick Carlisle, former KC Jones player. - Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 champions coached by Tyronn Lue, Doc Rivers assistant, Jerry West draftee. However the most notable non-Auerbach dynasty is the MJ-led Bulls, incidentally an antithesis of the Auerbach team-first concept. This team was a titan of mega egos battling it out, held together by a thin strand that would soon wear out.

[@jamesmichalek5406]

@@broadstreet21 Lakers dynasty was launched in the fifties under George Mikan.

[@broadstreet21]

@@jamesmichalek5406 Or the Lakers dynasty that preceded the Celtics, yeah. They get overlooked for playing in a forgotten or less competitive era. It's too bad that neither GM Sid Hartman nor coach John Kundla could sire their own tree.

[@broadstreet21]

But I was talking about how Auerbach left an indelible mark on the league that endures today with his massive coaching tree, the preeminence of African American players, and team first strategy and concept.

[@jamesmichalek5406]

@@broadstreet21 Less competitive? No way, no how.

[@wpl8275]

8 consecutive NBA championships. Never going to happen again. Ever.

[@broadstreet21]

Imagine though how many more rings he would have had had Len Bias lived.

[@rogercobbs4297]

and if bird didn t get hurt and Reggie Lewis lived bird 6 to 8 rings

[@broadstreet21]

@@rogercobbs4297 Doubt they would have landed Reggie Lewis had Bias lived and led them to championships. Unless perchance he fell to 30th in the draft. That would have been something else.

[@broadstreet21]

I'd imagine that had Bias lived, maybe Jones would have stayed on to coach the Celtics into the 90s... or perhaps Rogers would have made a good enough coach. And if Bird, McHale, and Parish stay in peak shape, they might sweep championships until say 1994 - when Bird finally retires. That's a best-case scenario. If you're counting, sweeping titles from 1986-1994 gives him eight more rings. That gives him 24 rings. From here, things get unpredictable. Does Rick Pitino get hired and wrecks the team? Do they land Paul Pierce? And what happens to MJ? Does he give up and retire for good in 1994 or does he come back in 1996? Or perhaps he manages to win a title or two before 1994?

[@mdcx2016]

Or if Bird hadn't broken his fingers before he even joined the team...

[@broadstreet21]

@Bear Stein Reggie went second to last. Celtics were runners up in the NBA Finals. Had they won that year, likely so with Bias, they drop to last place in the draft. Even if Lewis is available, Bias (and Bird) plays the same position. That's why I say they go with Anderson.

[@todd3563]

A coach doesn't get respect by yelling and screaming. Red knew how to treat players and in return they wanted to win for him.

[@cameronsarmiento4102]

Just watched the finals game 3 and red with no mention of his name...Made me look him up. Greatness

[@nancygaleucia9915]

He was the very best.

[@broadstreet21]

I wished that in the 90s Auerbach hosted an NBA equivalent of Coach's Corner with Don Cherry. He has the charisma the gift of the gab, and the knowledge, not to mention the biggest collection of rings.

[@jonisafreak3]

Go watch red on roundball the guy loved basketball

[@broadstreet21]

@@jonisafreak3 If only they had short segments of these between ball periods.

[@thetf8142]

16 rings He’s the lord of the rings

[@the_mike_essen_show2484]

The Greatest Coach in NBA history, by far

[@idkmanwhat9279]

Watching this showed me just how important he was for basketball and tipple effect usa history, a small piece” his antics were famous, he would start with refs to take pressure off his players” if you know you know how deep that line is.

[@ericruiz1036]

Look at Big Bill run the floor. How beautiful is that??

[@DrJohnnyJ]

Amazing. Blocks the shot then he gets out on the wing and runs half speed so the others can keep up. If Red had allowed it, Russell would have gone coast to coast three or four times per game.

[@lorenzoallen4321]

Love you red

[@Wowvod]

Greatest gm, coach.

[@OBESPRING1982]

Auerbach was a SUPREME MANIPULATOR. In Terry Pluto's documentary of the ABA, there is an excerpt detailing how Red was adamantly against the three point shot and influential enough in NBA circles to keep what he called "a gimmick" out of the league. Of course, he reversed direction and the NBA had enough lead time to get the "gimmick" introduced for the 1979-80 season when Larry Bird, whom Boston had drafted in 1978, entered the league as a rookie.

[@broadstreet21]

For the record, the Royals may or may not have drafted Russell first - for starters, they already had a rebounding center and Russell's defense-first mentality was not highly valued prior to his career. Centers were measured by their offense. Plus, the Royals could not afford Russell's contract demands.

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

"One of the most"? Funny, who was second place?

[@gregoryphillips760]

No mention of the championship teams of '74 & '76??????????? This' tribute' loses all credibility.

[@PhilBurr100]

Definitely agree, they said 3, first thing i said was "nope 5"

[@loydkline]

Red auerback greatest nba basketball general manager ever

[@loydkline]

Love /❤️ Tommy heinsohn boston celtic playoffs series 🏆 champion

[@youtuber3328]

what if red auerbach was the head coach for patrick ewing alonzo mourning hakeem olajuwon kareem abdul-jabbar and/or wilt chamberlain and what if the hawks kept bill russell

[@kevinlawrence8580]

Bill Russell was not the first black coach in professional sports history. It was Don McClendon. He coached the Cleveland Pipers of the short lived American Basketball League.

[@stolencbscontent3233]

They couldn't even TOUCH the rim?

[@DrJohnnyJ]

without jumping.

[@jameswithers2334]

You people who know: I think Russel won NCAA, Olympics, and NBA championships in the same year. True?

[@thomasleary2814]

I know he won the championship with the Celtics in May '57 and Olympic gold in Nov or Dec '56. I believe he was also college Champ with USF in '56. All in 1 calendar year.

[@bikemaurice1953]

Mr. Boston Celtics Red Auerbach v_v ^_^

[@d820m]

they're wrong about what happened in the 1957 NBA Finals, Red punched Hawks owner Ben Kerner before Game 3.....

[@Hawkeye515D]

Dude you also don't know the whole story, Reds first NBA coaching job was for the Tri-City Blackhawks, which is the original location of the Atlanta Hawks. Another interesting thing is they also drafted Cousy. They had a lot of beef. Love Wikipedia!

[@d820m]

Red's first pro coaching gig was with the Washington Capitols, then the Tri-Cities team, then the Celtics

[@stonenatural3653]

;)

[@providence_watchtower.hydra91]

.hydra

[@michaelsevilla3226]

pop's 5 rings are better than red's 9 rings way more competitive era

[@alanjones9659]

Yes, but Red wasn't an arsehole.

[@Shatamx]

So competitive the C's went 7 games in the conference and NBA finals multiple times. Every run. The competition was there during the era. C's didn't just sleep there way to win after win.

[@loydkline]

No way

[@malikreed2531]

I have to disagree

[@loydkline]

No if you knew basketball from the 1960s bill Russell & boston celtics were very lucky;; wilt ; Philadelphia 76er in should've won 🏆 in. 1967/1968; injuries hurts 1968/ 1969 bill Russell & boston celtics were very lucky ny knicks were injuries Walt frazier : expansion Gail Goodrich got away from l.a Lakers; Jerry west said early 1960s boston celtics they were very lucky few nba finals ; boston celtic should've lost