Auerbach, Red

Red Auerbach, byname of Arnold Jacob Auerbach, (born Sept. 20, 1917, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 28, 2006, Washington, D.C.), American professional basketball coach whose National Basketball Association (NBA) Boston Celtics won nine NBA championships and 885 games against 455 losses.

Auerbach began coaching at St. Alban’s Preparatory School (1940) and Roosevelt High School (1940–43), both in Washington, D.C. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy (1943–46), and after the war he coached the Basketball Association of America’s Washington Capitals and the NBA’s Tri-Cities Blackhawks before becoming coach of the Celtics in 1950.

Under Auerbach the Celtics dominated the NBA, making the play-offs in each of his 16 seasons as coach of the team and winning eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966. Auerbach’s talented Celtics teams featured 11 future Hall of Famers, including Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Bill Russell, and Bill Sharman. His trademark as a Celtics coach was lighting a “victory cigar” on the bench in the closing seconds of games, delighting Celtic fans and infuriating the fans of their opponents. Auerbach retired in 1966 as coach and became president and general manager of the Celtics. Under his management the Celtics won six additional NBA titles. He retired as general manager in 1984 but remained active in promoting the Celtics tradition. Auerbach was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968.