Tag: Red Auerbach

WATCH: Celtics honor Red Auerbach’s career, retire No. 2 in his honor at Boston Garden in 1985

The Celtics celebrated the legendary Celtics executive’s career at the Garden in 1985, retiring the No. 2 jersey in his honor.

Astute fans of the Boston Celtics don’t need any explanation as to why the storied franchise chose to retire a jersey number to honor Arnold “Red” Auerbach, a man who never played a single minute for the Celtics. But for those still learning the lore of their favorite team, the legendary coach and team president had a hand in all but one of Boston’s 17 titles.

The feat has not been bested by any front office occupant in NBA history and a singular achievement in North American sports more generally. The Celtics organization honored the iconic executive in 1985, raising the No. 2 jersey to the rafters in honor of his accomplishments with the team.

Auerbach was a true giant of the game, and Bostonians reaped the rewards for generations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A066A61kzQI

To get a look back at that historic day, check out the video embedded above courtesy of CLNS Media.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

On this day: Hayward, Wilcox sign; Mickey waived; Red stays

On this day, the Boston Celtics signed Gordon Hayward and Chris Wilcox, waived Jordan Mickey, and didn’t lose Red Auerbach to the New York Knicks.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team signed All-Star veteran forward Gordon Hayward away from the Utah Jazz in free agency. The Butler product’s contract, a four-year, $128 million deal with a player option on its final year, started on a gruesome note that took several seasons to recover from.

A devastating injury to his ankle ended Hayward’s first season with Boston just a few minutes into the 2018-19 NBA season. The Indiana native worked diligently over the next two seasons to get back to his old self and abilities.

Unfortunately, by the time he had mostly recovered his game, it was on a team that needed him in less of a starring and more of a supporting role.

On this day: Hayward, Wilcox sign; Mickey waived; Red stays

On this day, the Boston Celtics signed Gordon Hayward and Chris Wilcox, waived Jordan Mickey, and didn’t lose Red Auerbach to the New York Knicks.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team signed All-Star veteran forward Gordon Hayward away from the Utah Jazz in free agency. The Butler product’s contract, a four-year, $128 million deal with a player option on its final year, started on a gruesome note that took several seasons to recover from.

A devastating injury to his ankle ended Hayward’s first season with Boston just a few minutes into the 2018-19 NBA season. The Indiana native worked diligently over the next two seasons to get back to his old self and abilities.

Unfortunately, by the time he had mostly recovered his game, it was on a team that needed him in less of a starring and more of a supporting role.

On logo stomps, legacies, and divergent publics in Boston Celtics fandom

Why are there still such divergent views on the Celtics logo? Turns out, symbolism is a complicated subject.

Before Glen “Big Baby” Davis stirred the pot of the Kyrie Irving logo stomp, another voice in the wider Boston Celtics community weighed in, yet nearly escaped notice despite being related to the person who made the logo at the center of Davis’ controversial words.

That person of course would be Julie Auerbach Flieger, granddaughter of the legendary coach and team president behind most of Boston’s 17 titles — and the niece of Zang Auerbach, who created the logo in the 1950s. Auerbach Flieger responded to a recent post by Celtic great Cedric Maxwell asking why more people weren’t outraged by Irving’s end-of-game gesture, revealing it had been bothering her for some time.

“I’m so upset I haven’t even been able to post about it until now,” she began.

Boston’s Danny Ainge recalls how Celtics icon Red Auerbach beat him in racquetball

The three-sport All-American was not, in fact, good at every sport he tried.

Younger fans of the Boston Celtics may not all be aware of the fact that the current Team President Danny Ainge was a player with the franchise with who he won two titles in the mid-1980s.

Fewer still know Ainge was a three-sport All-American, winning national recognition as a high school athlete in his native Oregon playing basketball, football and baseball, the latter of which he also played professionally in college before joining the Celtics in 1981. As adept as the future Celtic was at sports in high school, he would meet his match in another sport in one Red Auerbach, the iconic Boston coach and team president behind the bulk of Boston’s banners.

Ainge was asked if there’s a sport he isn’t good at on a recent episode of the popular New England Sports radio show “Toucher & Rich.”

WATCH: Red Auerbach’s Celtics victory cigar-smoking ritual origin story

The story of how the cigar-smoking, end-of-game ritual got started, told by the man himself.

Ever wonder where the famous ritual of Red Auerbach smoking a cigar at the end of a game came from?

The iconic Boston Celtics team president and coach actually shared the origin story of the Celtics’ “Gino Time” moment prototype, when Auerbach would spark a stogie to demonstrated to foes and fans alike that he believed the game was finally out of reach for the Celtics’ opponents. Always gravitating to the demonstrative, Red decided to turn a negative situation with the league office into an opportunity for showmanship, bending what had initially irritated him into a ploy to enrage opposing teams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6SyG5tNA5s

Watch the video embedded above dug up by our friends over at CLNS Media to hear the story from the man himself — Auerbach was leader in the league like no other.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Red Auerbach listed the 12 players he’d most want for the playoffs

The legendary Celtic team president and coach once listed the 12 players hed most want on his team going into the playoffs.

Legendary Boston Celtics team president Red Auerbach was once asked by iconic Sports Illustrated reporter Jack McCallum to name the 10 players he would most like to have playing for his team in the playoffs, era and NBA contracts not under consideration.

The outspoken Auerbach refused to limit himself to just ten, instead opting for a dozen, with the explanation given that “look, I had 12 players when I coached. The hell with 10.” Supposedly in no particular order in an obscure 1992 Sports Illustrated Almanac and Record Book list of Red shared with McCallum that caught our eye courtesy of Twitter user Kateforthree.’

Bernie Sanders “joins” Jayson Tatum, Red Auerbach for photo – sort of

These Bernie memes are everywhere lately, it seems.

However you feel about the Vermont Senator and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, if you’ve been online since Wednesday, it’s probably safe to assume you’ve seen the internet abuzz with a meme Sanders sitting in a chair at new President Joe Biden’s inauguration superimposed on … well, everything.

And now that has been extended to the Boston Celtics media sphere, with the Sanders meme getting a distinctly Celtic take. Older fans and fans with a bent for the team’s rich history know who the man immortalized in a bronze statue located outside of Quincy Market is, sitting on a bench while smoking an eternal bronze cigar.

That man, Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the architect of Celtic excellence from the 1950s onwards, has long been a popular photo opportunity for tourists and locals alike, including All-NBA Boston forward Jayson Tatum.

Someone in the team’s front office decided it would be a great moment to have Sanders “join” them, posting the result on the team’s Twitter account along with the words “New England Legends”.

Indeed.

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On this day: Hayward, Wilcox sign; Mickey waived; Red stays

On this day, the Boston Celtics signed Gordon Hayward and Chris Wilcox, waived Jordan Mickey, and didn’t lose Red Auerbach to the New York Knicks.

On this day in 2017, the Boston Celtics signed All-Star veteran forward Gordon Hayward away from the Utah Jazz in free agency.

The Butler product’s deal, a four-year, $128 million deal with a player option on its final year, was signed by the Indiana native to start his career with the Celtics, which continues right up to the present.

While a devastating injury to his ankle marred his first season with Boston after a fall just moments into the 2018-18 NBA season, Hayward worked diligently to get back to his old self and abilities over the next two seasons.

This season, he is much fo the way back to where he had been before the injury, though foot soreness continues to bother him from time to time.

The former No. 9 overall pick has averaged 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a steal per game while with the Celtics.

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