Red Auerbach American basketball coach Date of Birth: 20.09.1917 Country: USA

1. Biography of Red Auerbach
2. The Mastermind of Psychological Warfare
3. Professional Career and Personal Life

Biography of Red Auerbach

Red Auerbach, an American basketball coach, is recognized as one of the most outstanding coaches in NBA history. He is attributed with creating some of the best players in American basketball, most notably Celtic star Bill Russell. Over the course of his twenty-nine-year basketball career, Auerbach earned sixteen championship rings in the National Basketball Association (1957-1986) as the coach, general manager, and president of the Celtics. Some of his pupils became Hall-of-Famers, such as Dave Cowens, Larry Bird, and others. Additionally, Auerbach is famous for his coaching talent. Among his successors, Bill Russell stands out, who brought two titles to the Celtics, as well as Tom Heinsohn (victory in two championships as a Celtic coach), K.C. Jones (two Celtic victories in 1980), and Bill Sharman (led the Los Angeles Lakers to their first major victory). Auerbach gained fame for his approach to selecting players for the team. The color of the basketball players' skin or their ethnic backgrounds did not matter to him. Talent and good motivation were what Auerbach valued in players. In 1950, Red made history in world basketball as the first coach to prepare a black player, Chuck Cooper, for the professional basketball league. After this, under Auerbach's leadership, the Celtics team began to be joined by new African American players - Bill Russell, Tom Sanders, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, and Willie Naulls (the first starting five African American basketball players in NBA history).

The Mastermind of Psychological Warfare

Outstanding leaders always stand out for their quirks and unusual behavior. Red Auerbach gained a reputation as an instigator of "psychological warfare," provoking his opponents on the basketball court. The basis of his clever and thought-out tactics was complete control over the Celtic's home arena, the Boston Garden. He created not just challenging, but sometimes inhumane conditions for the visitors, turning the game into a survival challenge. Due to his hot temper, Red Auerbach received more penalties than any other NBA coach. However, when it came to his team, Auerbach was more lenient. In 2006, the Celtic's management created a special award in honor of Red Auerbach. Only Celtic players who demonstrated the "spirit and essence of Celtic's existence" on the court were eligible to receive it. This award was named after the legendary coach, general manager, and president of the organization, Red Auerbach.

Professional Career and Personal Life

Red Auerbach completed his professional basketball career at George Washington University, earning a master's degree in economics in 1941. During his college years, he played in the university basketball team, where he was nicknamed the most productive player. Auerbach's coaching career began with the Washington Capitals, and in 1950, he was invited to serve as the coach for the Boston Celtics. Over the years of coaching, Red led the team to victory in the championship nine times (1957-1966). In 1969, Auerbach was honored with membership in the Hall-of-Famers as a player and coach. In the same year, he left his coaching career and became the team's general manager, appointing Bill Russell as his successor, who added a couple more titles to the Celtics. From 1970-1997 and 2001-2006, Red Auerbach served as the president of the Celtic's club.

Arnold Jacob Auerbach was born on September 20, 1917, in the family of an American mother, Mary Auerbach, and a Russian-Jewish immigrant, Hyman Auerbach. Besides him, the family had three other children, and the youngest of them was Zang Auerbach, who was four years younger than Red and later became a respected caricaturist and portrait artist in Washington. Red spent his childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, playing basketball. He was nicknamed "Red" due to his fiery red hair and quick temper.

In 1941, Red married Dorothy Lewis, and a few years later, became the father of two daughters, Nancy and Randy. In social circles, Red was known for his love of smoking cigars. On the basketball court, when Red felt his team's victory was close, he would light up a cigar. This gesture later became known as the "coach's victory symbol," and the public loved it. In many Boston restaurants, you could see signs that said, "No smoking except for Red Auerbach." Cigars were not the only passion of the famous coach; Red never hid that he considered Chinese cuisine the most delicious food in the world. When traveling with the team for an away game, Red never forgot to feed his players Chinese food. However, heavy food did not always have a positive effect on the players' health. Nevertheless, Red did not let go of his preference and even became a co-owner of a Boston restaurant that exclusively served Chinese food.

Auerbach's players loved their coach, and even after he retired, they never forgot his birthdays. For example, when Red turned 75, forty-five of his former students came to his birthday celebration.

Red Auerbach outlived his daughters and died from a heart attack. He was buried in Falls Church, Virginia, at the National Memorial Park on October 31, 2006.