"Red Auerbach" Boston Favorite Tip by travelfrosch

Fondest memory: On October 28, 2006, Arnold "Red" Auerbach, the patriarch of the Boston Celtics, passed away. He was the architect of the Celtics basketball dynasty in the 1960s, as well as the man responsible for bringing Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge to the Green for their championship runs in the 1980s. He was also responsible for bringing one of the first black players in the NBA (Bill Russell) to then-racist Boston (Interestingly, if the Red Sox had such courage in 1946, they could have had Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente on the same team... but I digress...), then a few years later making the controversial move of elevating Russell to Player/Coach. Incredibly, just 20 years later, Auerbach was acccused of being racist for fielding a predominantly white team in the 1980s. Auerbach made a classic response: "Most teams (in the NBA) have a bunch of black players being led by a white coach. The Celtics have a bunch of white players being led by a black coach (K.C. Jones). Now you tell me who's being racist!"

Red, thanks for the championships, for the history, and for simply being yourself against all of the naysayers. You will be sorely missed.