RIP creative genius
He was the greatest professional basketball coach of all time. Coached the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1966, then became general manager. He won more championships than any other coach. He was a master innovator as a coach and as a GM - first to start five black players, invented the 6th man concept, drafted a phantom player who revived the franchise.
Basketball hasn’t just lost a great coach. The world has lost a creative genius.
Let’s look at this 6th man concept. Basketball teams have five starters, right? Well, Red figured out a way to use six starters. They just didn’t all start. Frank Ramsey. John Havlicek. Kevin McHale. All great players. All players who could start for any other team. (Actually, they all started for the Celtics, eventually.) So, when Red made his first substitution of the game, the Celts still had five starters on the court. Only one of them had fresh legs. That’s 20% of the team less fatigued than the other team. Brilliant.
Now on to the phantom player. In 1978, as GM of the Celtics, Red Auerbach used a 1st round draft pick to select a player who would not score a single point for the Celtics that season, and Red knew it going in. You see, this player was a college junior whom Red knew would not be available for another year. If you don’t know much about NBA basketball, this creative genius basically “wasted” a very high draft pick on a player he knew he would have to wait a year to get.
Yeah, he wasted a high draft pick, alright, but he assured the Celtics of the services of a player he knew would bring championships back to Boston. The player was the g-r-e-a-t Larry Bird. Again, brilliant.
Yes, the world lost a creative genius this week, not just a basketball coach. We’ll miss Red. However we won’t miss the plaid jackets.
For more on Red Auerbach’s creative genius see the Celtics’ official web site.
