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Arnold “Red” Auerbach puffs on his trademark cigar. (File)

By Steve Bulpett
Boston Herald Sports Reporter


Sunday, October 29, 2006 - Updated: 02:06 AM EST

Today, for the first time in more than half a century, the Celtics are without their cornerstone.
Arnold “Red” Auerbach, a symbol of the franchise since 1950 and a leader in the basketball world, died last night in Washington. He was 89.


Auerbach’s death was announced by the Celtics, for whom he still served as team president. The team said the upcoming season would be dedicated in his honor. His last public appearance was Wednesday when he received the U.S. Navy’s Lone Sailor Award in front of family and friends in ceremonies in Washington.

While many focus on his grand coaching numbers - 938 regular season victories, 99 more in the playoffs and nine world championships - Auerbach leaves a legacy that moves far deeper. The fact the NBA’s coach of the year award is named for him is testament enough to his brilliance on the bench, but it was his ability to craft a roster and his willingness to step outside the sadly conventional bounds of his day that may define him more accurately.


The Celtics championship total would grow to 16 under Auerbach’s guidance as coach, general manager and team president.


Auerbach broke many barriers in his career. He became the first in NBA history to draft an African-American when he boldly chose Chuck Cooper in 1950. As coach he was the first to start five black players, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, KC Jones, Tom Sanders and Willie Naulls. In 1966, he appointed Russell the team’s player-coach, making him the first African-American to be head coach in a major sport in modern times.


Auerbach’s commitment to sport and the community was re-established later in 1985 with the creation of the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation.


But that was 35 years and 15 Celtics championships after Walter Brown reached out to Auerbach, a former coach of the Washington Capitols and Tri-Cities Hawks. The Celtics had been mired at the lower levels of the new professional league when Brown, a competitor frustrated with the team but largely without a basketball background, was advised by local sportswriters to hire Auerbach. The two would develop a very close bond.


After six years of improvement, Auerbach made a move that catapulted the Celtics into the pantheon of all-time great franchises. On April 20, 1956, he traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to St. Louis for a first-round pick that was used on Russell. Nine times in the next 10 seasons, the Celtics would win world championships, the greatest run of dominance in the history of professional basketball.


Auerbach turned over the sideline duties to Russell after the ’66 title, but even after leaving the bench, the flame still burned within his victory cigars. With Red providing the players to fuel the dynasty and Russell delivering in his dual roles, the Celtics won championships in 1968 and 1969.


There was heavier reconstruction to be done for GM Auerbach after Russell retired in the wake of the 1969 championship. With another former player, Tommy Heinsohn, now coaching, the Celtics won titles in 1974 and ’76.

When the franchise faded into a dark period with ownership and player problems, it was Auerbach who held the ship together and righted its course with one colossal move in 1978. The Celtics were coming off a 50-loss season and would lose 53 more in 1978-79, but the seeds of rebirth were planted when Auerbach took the generally unthinkable step of drafting Larry Bird as a junior eligible.


The Celts waited a year for Bird to finish at Indiana State, but history would show that Auerbach’s brainstorm was worth the wait. With Auerbach adding Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge and Bill Walton along the way, the Celtics would win three more championships in the 1980s.

Auerbach was president of the Celtics from 1970-97 and from 2001 until his death. He was vice chairman of the club as Rick Pitino claimed the president’s title from 1997-2001. Auerbach also served as general manager from 1950 to 1984 before naming Jan Volk as his successor.
The honors have poured in over the years for Auerbach. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield in 1968, and was chosen as coach of the NBA’s Silver Anniversary Team, honoring the league’s best over its first 25 years.
Also in ’80, he was selected to the NBA’s 35th Anniversary Team as “Greatest Coach in the History of the NBA,” by the Professional Basketball Writers Association.
Closer to home, the Celtics retired No. 2 in honor of Auerbach on Jan. 4, 1985. No. 1 had been retired for Brown. Later that year on Sept. 20, his 68th birthday, a life-sized sculpture of Auerbach was unveiled and placed in Faneuil Hall marketplace.
Each year, millions of tourists and locals are drawn to the statue of Auerbach seated on a bench with his cigar held prominently.

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