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Auerbach might be greatest sports legend

No one can match late legend's amazing record — and no one ever will

BILL RUSSELLAP
With the help of Hall of Fame center Bill Russell, Red Auerbach coached the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships in the 1950s and 1960s. Auerbach, who later built seven more championship teams for the Celtics while in the front office is perhaps the greatest legend we've ever had in sports, says MSNBC.com's Mike Celizic.

When he died Saturday at the age of 89, Auerbach was still president of the Celtics, a mark of the respect he commanded. Had he lived another 20 years, the title still would have been his. Now that he’s gone, the Celtics should simply retire the title of president as they would the number of a great player. No one can fill the shoes he left behind.

That’s not bad for a Jewish kid from Brooklyn who was born in 1917 as a member of Tom Brokaw’s greatest generation. Basketball was big in New York’s Jewish neighborhoods for the same reason it’s popular in city neighborhoods today — hoops in little parks were readily available, it didn’t cost a lot to play, and you could practice it alone or play a game with as few as two people.

There wasn’t an NBA to dream about joining, and there certainly weren’t unimaginable piles of money to reap. Kids played the game for no reason other than that they loved it.

He had to go to Washington to play in college, at George Washington University, where he was the team’s leading scorer and defender. From there, it was on to coaching, first in Washington and then with the Celtics.

He stayed with the game because he loved it and was good at it. What else could a man whose advice to young people was “just do what you do best” do?

He retired after beating the Lakers in seven games in 1966; it was his eighth straight title and he was just 48 years old.

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But he never gave up the game and never lost his ability to see through the essentials.

When John Feinstein wrote a book about Auerbach called Let Me Tell You a Story, Auerbach had this to say about today’s coaches: “These guys today want you to believe that what they're doing is some kind of a science. Coaching is simple: You need good players who are good people. You have that, you win. You don't have that, you can be the greatest coach who ever lived and you aren't going to win.”

He didn’t have a lot of use for the way the game is played today: “Throw it in the post, the defense doubles, and the big guy either forces a shot or pitches it out to someone who shoots a three. There's only so much of that you can watch.”

The teams he coached you could watch forever.

Mike Celizic writes regularly for MSNBC.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.


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