Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20 1917 - October 28 2006) was a highly successful and influential 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 right up until his death. As a coach, he won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and 9 National Basketball Association (NBA) championships, a coaching record shared with Phil Jackson. As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional 7 NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials ever in the history of North American professional sports.
Beyond trophies, Auerbach is remembered as a pioneer of modern basketball, redefining basketball as a game dominated by team play and tough defense rather than individual feats and high scoring and introducing the fastbreak as a potent offensive weapon. He groomed many players who went on to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame but more importantly, Auerbach was vital in breaking down color barriers in the NBA. He made history by drafting the first African-American NBA player in Chuck Cooper (1950), and introduced the first fully black starting five in 1964. Famous for his polarizing nature, he was also well-known for smoking victory cigars when he thought a game was decided, a habit that became cult in Boston.
For his feats, Auerbach received a multitude of honors. In 1967, the NBA Coach of the Year award, which he had won in 1965, was named the "Red Auerbach Trophy", and Auerbach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1980, he was named the greatest coach in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America, and was NBA Executive of the Year in 1981. In addition, Auerbach was voted one of the NBA 10 Greatest Coaches in history, was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and is honored with a retired number-2 jersey in the TD Banknorth Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics.
