Welcome to our collection of quotes by Red Auerbach
Wikipedia Summary for Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. He was also the head coach of the Washington Capitols and Tri-Cities Blackhawks. As a coach, Auerbach set NBA records with 938 wins and nine championships. After his coaching retirement in 1966, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years and making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.
Auerbach is remembered as a pioneer of modern basketball, redefining basketball as a game dominated by team play and defense and for introducing the fast break as a potent offensive weapon. He groomed many players who went on to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Auerbach was vital in breaking down color barriers in the NBA. He made history by drafting the first African-American NBA player, Chuck Cooper in 1950, introduced the first African-American starting five in 1964, and hired Bill Russell as the first African-American head coach in North American sports in 1966. Famous for his polarizing nature, he was well known for smoking a cigar when he thought a victory was assured, a habit that became, for many, "the ultimate symbol of victory" during his Boston tenure.
In 1967, the NBA Coach of the Year award, which he had won in 1965, was named the "Red Auerbach Trophy", and Auerbach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1970, Auerbach was named President of the Boston Celtics, and first held the presidency from 1970-1997. In 2001, after having spent 4 years as the team's vice-chairman, he returned to the role of team president and served in that capacity until his death in 2006. In 1980, he was named the greatest coach in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America, and was NBA Executive of the Year in 1980. In addition, Auerbach was voted one of the NBA 10 Greatest Coaches in history, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and is honored with a retired number 2 jersey in the TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics.
If they think we've got an edge, we've got an edge.
I have two college degrees, but the only way I could make a living was by showing kids how to put a ball in a hole.
Winners train, losers complain. Give me twelve players that want to win and they will find a way to win.
When players are used to winning, they put out a little more. Basketball 3rd winningest coach (regular season and playoffs) in NBA history; won 1,037 times in 20 years.
I can't stand a ballplayer who plays in fear. Anybody who has a good shot has got to take it and keep taking it. So he misses...so what?
I don't believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can't be measured. You can't measure a ballplayer's heart.
Many, many times, the kids with the less talent become the better athletes because they're more dedicated to achieving their full potential.
Stand up for your players. Show them you care on and off the court.
The most important thing in coaching is communication. It's not what you say as much as what they absorb.
The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team, they are a way of life.
You can't win without the ball.
They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best.
I have two college degrees, four honorary doctorate degrees, and am in three Halls of fame, and the only thing I know how to do is teach tall people how to put a ball in the hole.
You don't win games as a coach during games. You win games as a coach before games. Players win during games, not coaches.
Everyone is born with a certain potential. You may never achieve your full potential, but how close you come depends on how much you want to pay the price.
The coach should be the absolute boss, but he still should maintain an open mind.
He has the players too happy.
You've got to avoid overcoaching. You've got to avoid talking too much. You've got to avoid showing players that you're the boss every time. You don't have to do that. They know you're in charge.
Everything can happen in the playoffs.
Who could better motivate Bill Russell than Bill Russell?
To a father, when a child dies, the future dies; to a child when a parent dies, the past dies.
Just do what you do best.
Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.
Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.
The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.
He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted.
An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.
The best way to forget ones self is to look at the world with attention and love.