"(He's) stupid and incompetent, and I told the son of a bitch that to his face." -- Red on referee Arnie Heft, 1954
"One of (my) biggest wishes (is) to shove that cigar down Red's throat." -- Alex Hannum, according to Frank Ramsey.
"Hey Russell, did you throw up?" -- Red to Bill Russell prior to one of so many seventh games. Russ did.
"I had very few discipline problems. In all my years coaching the Celtics, I fined only four guys. Three were caught after curfew and the fourth was Sam Jones, who was eating pancakes on the day of a game...How dumb can you be? Everyone knows that pancakes just lie in your stomach for hours." -- Red didn't think pancakes were proper pre-game food.
"Red never really appreciated spending a lot of money." -- Harry Mangurian.
"What's SHE doing here?" -- Red greeting Larry Bird and his then girlfriend, Dinah Mattingly, at Bird's first Camp Millbrook.
"He smoked smelly cigars. He intimidated officials and other players, threatening to kick everyone's ass." -- Tom Meschery.
"(W)e couldn't win with Cousy, and I told the press that when I drafted Charlie Share over Cousy." -- Red.
"The only thing Red did worse than play basketball was drive. He had a blue convertible Chevy and he drove it like a madman, 80 miles an hour, through the White Mountains to get to those exhibition games he had set up in little towns. The players also rode in cars and no one wanted to go with Red." -- Easy Ed Macauley, of the first Celtic greats.
"For Chrissakes, who let the broads in. No broads at practice." -- Red.
"When the league was picking on me, I tried to think of something that would aggravate the higher-ups...I wasn't having much luck until one day I lighted up a cigar during a game. Afterward I got a little note saying, 'It doesn't look good for you to be smoking cigars on the bench.' I haven't been without one since." -- Red.
"We had some apples and started an apple fight, throwing apples out of our car at the guys in another car. We were driving side-by-side, throwing apples at each other. We got pulled over by the cops because Red was driving on the wrong side of the road so his guys could get a good shot at us with the apples..." -- Tom Heinsohn, who was always able to get off a good shot.
"That was the hardest thing I ever did." -- Red on firing Tommy Heinsohn as coach.
"Vic was the student. He worked hard in school, got good grades, stayed out of trouble. He was good enough to make the basketball team but was never a star...Zang had the highest IQ of all of us. Never worked in school and had the best grades." -- Red on his brothers.
"...Red got into trouble...in Cincinnati and a fan took a swing at him. Red swung back and punched the guy. We went back to the hotel, and a cop showed up at Red's door..." "Cousy and Buddy Leroux went down to the station and Red had to post bond. Red didn't have enough money and he asked Buddy for it. Cousy thought it was hilarious. He told the desk sergeant, 'You can't put that man in jail because you don't have Chinese food." "The fan dropped the charges, and after that Red left the guy tickets every time we played in Cincinnati. They became buddies..." -- Story from Frank Ramsey and Jim Foscutoff.
"There's a kid coming out of Duquesne who can help us. Chuck Cooper. He's 6-6 and real good, but you know he's a Negro." -- Red to owner Walter Brown, pre 1950 draft.
"Well, well, well, here comes our great leader now. Say something intelligent, great leader." ...also... "The way it works up there is that whatever goes right Red did. Whatever goes wrong, the owner did." -- John Y. Brown, at one time an owner of the most historic franchise in the NBA.
"I remember the last time Red lit up the victory cigar as a coach. It came the year after he left the bench and put Russell in charge of the team. There was a massive snowstorm in Boston and Russell was the only Celtic who didn't get to the Garden for the game. We were playing Golden State with Nate Thurmond. Red took over on the bench. With no Russell, I had to play 45 minutes instead of my usual 10-15. We beat them in a close game and Red made some moves at the end that made a difference. In the final minute, he got to sit back on the bench, smile and fire up that cigar one more time because he had come down out of the stands to coach the team and win one last game." -- Hall of Famer Wayne Embry.
"We won baby. I'll be home tomorrow." -- Red after the first title, 1957, calling home to his wife, Dorothy.
====================================
Quotes are from "Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, in the Words of the Men Who Played, Coached, and Built Pro Basketball", by Cleveland's own Terry Pluto, "Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story" by Dan Shaughnessy, "Let Me Tell You A Story: A Lifetime In The Game" by John Feinstein and Red, and "Cousy" by Bill Reynolds.
"Hey Russell, did you throw up?" -- Red to Bill Russell prior to one of so many seventh games. Russ did.
"I had very few discipline problems. In all my years coaching the Celtics, I fined only four guys. Three were caught after curfew and the fourth was Sam Jones, who was eating pancakes on the day of a game...How dumb can you be? Everyone knows that pancakes just lie in your stomach for hours." -- Red didn't think pancakes were proper pre-game food.
"Red never really appreciated spending a lot of money." -- Harry Mangurian.
"What's SHE doing here?" -- Red greeting Larry Bird and his then girlfriend, Dinah Mattingly, at Bird's first Camp Millbrook.
"He smoked smelly cigars. He intimidated officials and other players, threatening to kick everyone's ass." -- Tom Meschery.
"(W)e couldn't win with Cousy, and I told the press that when I drafted Charlie Share over Cousy." -- Red.
"The only thing Red did worse than play basketball was drive. He had a blue convertible Chevy and he drove it like a madman, 80 miles an hour, through the White Mountains to get to those exhibition games he had set up in little towns. The players also rode in cars and no one wanted to go with Red." -- Easy Ed Macauley, of the first Celtic greats.
"For Chrissakes, who let the broads in. No broads at practice." -- Red.
"When the league was picking on me, I tried to think of something that would aggravate the higher-ups...I wasn't having much luck until one day I lighted up a cigar during a game. Afterward I got a little note saying, 'It doesn't look good for you to be smoking cigars on the bench.' I haven't been without one since." -- Red.
"We had some apples and started an apple fight, throwing apples out of our car at the guys in another car. We were driving side-by-side, throwing apples at each other. We got pulled over by the cops because Red was driving on the wrong side of the road so his guys could get a good shot at us with the apples..." -- Tom Heinsohn, who was always able to get off a good shot.
"That was the hardest thing I ever did." -- Red on firing Tommy Heinsohn as coach.
"Vic was the student. He worked hard in school, got good grades, stayed out of trouble. He was good enough to make the basketball team but was never a star...Zang had the highest IQ of all of us. Never worked in school and had the best grades." -- Red on his brothers.
"...Red got into trouble...in Cincinnati and a fan took a swing at him. Red swung back and punched the guy. We went back to the hotel, and a cop showed up at Red's door..." "Cousy and Buddy Leroux went down to the station and Red had to post bond. Red didn't have enough money and he asked Buddy for it. Cousy thought it was hilarious. He told the desk sergeant, 'You can't put that man in jail because you don't have Chinese food." "The fan dropped the charges, and after that Red left the guy tickets every time we played in Cincinnati. They became buddies..." -- Story from Frank Ramsey and Jim Foscutoff.
"There's a kid coming out of Duquesne who can help us. Chuck Cooper. He's 6-6 and real good, but you know he's a Negro." -- Red to owner Walter Brown, pre 1950 draft.
"Well, well, well, here comes our great leader now. Say something intelligent, great leader." ...also... "The way it works up there is that whatever goes right Red did. Whatever goes wrong, the owner did." -- John Y. Brown, at one time an owner of the most historic franchise in the NBA.
"I remember the last time Red lit up the victory cigar as a coach. It came the year after he left the bench and put Russell in charge of the team. There was a massive snowstorm in Boston and Russell was the only Celtic who didn't get to the Garden for the game. We were playing Golden State with Nate Thurmond. Red took over on the bench. With no Russell, I had to play 45 minutes instead of my usual 10-15. We beat them in a close game and Red made some moves at the end that made a difference. In the final minute, he got to sit back on the bench, smile and fire up that cigar one more time because he had come down out of the stands to coach the team and win one last game." -- Hall of Famer Wayne Embry.
"We won baby. I'll be home tomorrow." -- Red after the first title, 1957, calling home to his wife, Dorothy.
====================================
Quotes are from "Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, in the Words of the Men Who Played, Coached, and Built Pro Basketball", by Cleveland's own Terry Pluto, "Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story" by Dan Shaughnessy, "Let Me Tell You A Story: A Lifetime In The Game" by John Feinstein and Red, and "Cousy" by Bill Reynolds.
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