On what would have been the 100th birthday of legendary Boston Celtics head coach and executive Red Auerbach, the team he served from 1950 until his death in 2006 paid tribute to his legacy.
Celebrating the original Celtics Legend on what would have been his 100th birthday. Cheers to you, Red. ☘️ pic.twitter.com/TOEBT9snHz
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 20, 2017
As the team’s head coach from 1950-1966, Auerbach lead Boston to nine championships, the second most in NBA history with only Phil Jackson and his 11 rings topping the Celtics great. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1965 and had a stretch of eleven seasons (1957-1967) during which he was the Eastern Conference’s head coach for the NBA All-Star Game.
After coaching, the 1969 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee served as the Celtics general manager from 1966-1984. During that span, Auerbach was the architect behind the construction of seven NBA championship squads. In 1978, he selected future Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest player in Celtics history, Larry Bird. Auerbach followed that outstanding acquisition up in 1980 by pulling off an enormous trade dubbed “The Steal of The Century.” Boston’s general manager sent the first and 13th overall selections in the 1980 NBA draft to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for center Robert Parish and the third overall pick of the draft, with which Auerbach selected Kevin McHale. Both Parish and McHale would go on to have Hall of Fame careers in the Association, as Auerbach earned the 1980 NBA Executive of the Year Award for his orchestrating of the trade.
Auerbach stepped down as G.M. after the 1984 season and served as Boston’s team president until 1997. He would then act as the franchise’s vice chairman until 2001, before again stepping back into the team president role until his death in 2006.
