R.I.P. Red

                        

Red Auerbach has passed away at the age of 89.

As a Laker fan, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Red, who led those "evil" Celtics into one of sports' biggest dynasties.  His Celtics teams were indeed stacked....but he's the one who stacked them.  Not only did he see the talent...he got the most out of it.  He dealt for Bill Russell and made a black player the star of Boston....that's Boston....and even turned him into the NBA's first black coach.  He drafted Larry Bird a year before he'd get to play a game for him. 

He is one of the cornerstones of the NBA.  Without him, who knows where the NBA would be??  One of the best innovators and teachers of the sport, Auerbach knew the game as if he invented it.  His teams ran, ran, ran, ran back when everyone else was playing "Hoosiers Ball" and working for a good shot.  He completely managed his team...as the coach, teacher and front office.  If he wanted you....he'd get you. 

He also brought the smug to the NBA....lighting up his "victory cigar" when the game was in hand. 

He, along with Phil Jackson, have won 9 NBA titles as a head coach....most all time.  When he retired, he led the NBA in coaching victories.  Since then, six guys have passed him [and a 7th, Phil Jackson, could do so next year].  But none have the impact on the game that Red had.  If Jerry West is "the logo"....then Red is "the king".  I mean, how can the NBA go on without Red around it?? 

He made stable a league and a franchise that was unstable during the early days of the NBA.  Teams were folding and moving, but Red's Celtics [along with New York's Knicks and George Mikan's Lakers] were the gems of the league.  I've always felt that parity is great in sports....but what leagues really need is a constant champion presence to either love or hate.  You love or hate the Celtics just as you love or hate the Yankees or Cowboys. 

Now, I am too young to have been around when Red was actually coaching the Celtics.  But in my early years, I remember Red's little segments showing different aspects to playing basketball [I was always amazed at how much he knew about spacing] and his fingerprints all over the league...including, ironically, my Showtime Lakers. 

A Laker buddy of mine, LBerg, said it best:

"He was a pivotal figure in the evolution of the pro game and his innovations and greatness are unquestionable.  He was the architect and guiding hand of championship Celtics teams in four consecutive decades.  He had the foresight to work creatively to procure the Celtics' the playing rights to Bill Russell and Larry Bird, two of the greatest players in the history of the sport, as well as John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, the cornerstones of the two Celtic championship teams (and a couple of others that barely missed, notably the 68 win team of 1973 that was derailed in the ECF when Havlicek's right shoulder was separated) of the 1970s.  Havlicek of course had also been instrumental on some of the Celts' title teams of the 60s as well.  Love him or hate him (and his arrogance usually had me leaning toward the latter), there is no denying the greatness of Arnold "Red" Auerbach.  The sport was richer for his presence and is now poorer for his loss."

 

My condolansces to the Celtics family and fans.