On this day in Boston Celtics history, iconic head coach and general manager Arnold “Red” Auerbach secured the 1000th win of his head coaching career with the storied franchise in a 114-102 home win at the old Boston Garden over longtime rival Los Angeles Lakers in 1966.
Auerbach initially joined the team in 1950 to become the franchise’s third head coach after stints leading the (now defunct) Washington Capitols and (then) Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now, Atlanta Hawks). The New Yorker quickly rose to prominence as a consummate professional obsessed with winning at a time when many organizations were quite far from actually being organized.
Never mind something we would refer to as “professional.”