September 20, 2008 have been Red Auerbach's 91st Birthday and is a good time for the Celtics Nation to pause and remember patriarch of the Celtics franchise. Red once said:
"The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team, they are a way of life."
Red was a member of the National Basketball Association since its formation in 1946 and was with the Celtics since 1950. For him, the Celtics truly were a way of life. When the Celtics won the 2008 NBA championship, it marked the first of the Celtics' 17 championships that Red wasn't there to see.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Red attended Eastern District High School in that city, attended Seth Low Junior College in New York, and George Washington University in the District of Columbia. He played three years of college basketball at GW, and was the team's leading scorer and a defensive specialist. He received a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1940 and a Master of Arts in Education from GW the following year.
In 1941, Auerbach began coaching basketball at the St. Albans School and Roosevelt High School. Two years later, he joined the US Navy for three years, coaching the Navy basketball team in Norfolk. There, he caught the eye of Washington millionaire Mike Uline, who hired him to coach the Washington Capitols in the newly-founded Basketball Association of America (BAA), a predecessor of the NBA. Auerbach spent the first three seasons of his pro career with the Washington Capitols before moving on to the Tri-Cities Hawks for one campaign. At this point, Walter Brown, who owned the struggling Boston Celtics, appointed Auerbach as the man to lead the squad into what would ultimately become the greatest franchise in pro basketball history.
Auerbach carefully crafted a competitive team, and his moves culminated with an April 29, 1956 transaction that sent Easy Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to St. Louis for the Hawks' first-round pick; with that selection, the Celtics chose Bill Russell. This blockbuster trade would spur the Celtics into the most dominant franchise in pro basketball history and helped to create the legend of Red Auerbach as a step above everyone else in the NBA. From 1950-1966, Auerbach coached the Celtics to nine world titles, including eight in succession from 1959-1966. His incredible record was 938-479 (.662) in regular-season play and an equally impressive 99-69 (.589) in post-season encounters. Prior to the 1966-67 season, the "coach" removed himself from the bench in order to concentrate on his duties as General Manager, and appointed Bill Russell as player-coach.
With Red's guidance and knowledge, the Celtics continued to win. In 1968 and 1969, the Celtics added two more titles. After a down period in the early 1970s, Auerbach restructured the team, adding key personnel through trades and the draft, and ultimately raised banners in 1974 and 1976. It was the subsequent years that would provide Auerbach with his biggest challenge, as the late '70s proved to be a dismal period for the Celtics. Yet Auerbach once again saved the franchise with the shrewd selection of Larry Bird in the 1978 draft. Although he would have to wait a year before Bird would play in the NBA, Auerbach sensed that the Indiana native was the man to rejuvenate the proud organization and he was right. Five other teams had a shot at Bird, but all passed.
In 1981, Boston became the NBA champions again as Auerbach orchestrated another amazing trade, this time dealing the first and 13th picks in the 1981 draft to Golden State for Robert Parish and the third overall pick which became Kevin McHale. Boston added two more titles in 1984 and 1986 thanks to the master's keen additions of Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton, and others.
Auerbach has been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and honors throughout his career. In 1968, he was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA for all his successes. When the NBA chose its Silver Anniversary Team honoring the best of the league's first 25 years, Red was chosen as coach of that distinguished team. In 1982, he was elected to the Washington Hall of Stars, a Hall of Fame which involves people from all sports. Red was also honored as NBA Coach of the Year in 1965, winning the trophy that now bears his name, and NBA Executive of the Year in 1980. Also in that year, he was selected to the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team as "Greatest Coach in the History of the NBA," by the PBWAA (Pro Basketball Writers Association of America).
In 1985, the Red Auerbach Fund, established in the Celtics' legends' name, was created to promote athletic, recreational, and other youth development activities in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. January 4, 1985 will always be a special day in Boston sports history, as it was on this day that the Celtics family saluted its patriarch by having the number "2" retired in his honor. Number 1 was retired in honor of the team's founder, Walter Brown. The 2 retired for Red is emblematic of his being the second most influential person in the organization's history. On Red's 68th birthday, September 20, 1985, a life-size sculpture of Auerbach was unveiled and placed in Boston's historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace so the public would have a lasting tribute to this basketball genius and legend.
Red received seven honorary degrees from various institutions. He valued such honors so much that he kept a previous commitment to American International College by delivering its commencement speech on May 22, 1988, even though it prevented him from being at Boston Garden for the deciding game of the Celtics-Hawks' best-of-seven thriller. On that day, AIC presented Auerbach with a Doctor of Humanities Honorary Degree. A week earlier he had received a Doctor of Arts Honorary Degree from Stonehill College. He also received Honorary Doctorate Degrees in Humane Letters from Franklin Pierce College, on May 24, 1981, the University of Massachusetts (Boston), in 1982, and from Boston University, on May 13, 1984. In 1986, Central New England College honored him with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration. On February 14, 1993, his alma mater, George Washington, bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Public Service Degree, and on June 9, 1998, the university celebrated Red's 80th birthday by unveiling a plaque and a bust of the legendary coach. This tribute is permanently attached to the exterior of the Smith Center, GW's athletic facility.
Red authored seven books. His first, Basketball for the Player, the Fan and Coach, has been translated into seven languages and is the largest-selling basketball book in print. His second book, co-authored with Paul Sann, was Winning the Hard Way, and he also penned a pair of publications written in conjunction with Joe Fitzgerald: Red Auerbach: An Autobiography and Red Auerbach On and Off the Court. In October, 1991, Auerbach’s released, M.B.A.: Management by Auerbach, which was co-authored with Ken Dooley. In 1994, Red co-authored “Seeing Red”, written in conjunction with Dan Shaughnessy. In October 2004, his final book, “Let Me Tell You A Story”, was published and was co-written by legendary sports journalist John Feinstein. In 1987, an excellent instructional video entitled Winning Basketball became available to the public featuring the insight, thoughts, and philosophy of Red and three-time NBA Most Valuable Player and Celtics’ captain Larry Bird.
In spite of his passing on October 28, 2006, his hand was still on the latest Celtics championship. Danny Ainge was Red's choice for GM of the club. Red always had faith that Danny was the man to lead the Celtics back to glory and, as always when it came to basketball, he was right. Red's passing has left a void in the basketball world that will never be filled. On this, the 91st anniversary of Red's birth, we remember him... and miss him.
The Celtics invaded the White house today and presented President Bush with a signed basketball and a Celtics jersey. They gave him #43, which is fellow Texan Kendrick Perkins' number, in reference to Bush being the 43rd president.
Bush saluted the Celtics for bringing the Pride back to Boston and Paul Pierce for leading his team to the championship in spite of the knee injury. After the ceremony, Pierce said meeting the president was more nerve-wracking than the NBA finals.
Here are some of the highlights:
The president said he got caught up in the spirit of unity that helped carry the franchise to the championship. "I appreciate very much the use of the word 'Ubuntu,'" Bush said during his often humorous speech. "I don't know if you know what that's talking about here. Probably most people outside of Boston don't. It is an African word for unity that the [Celtics] declared when they broke from the huddle. I've been looking forward to saying that with a Texas accent: "U-bun-tu . . . yeah," Bush said to laughter and applause
He noted that Celtics ownership, along with general manager Danny Ainge, did an outstanding job constructing the roster, particularly by acquiring longtime stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, though he joked about their veteran status. "In the offseason, [Ainge] figured out the need to bring in some new blood -- or maybe some old new blood." Turning to Garnett behind him, Bush said with a laugh: "Well, old-er new blood.
In the meeting, the team said it would send a $100,000 check to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Ike. Celtics fans, a few wearing Red Sox caps and many, like Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy, snapping photos with their cameras, packed the East Room as the president honored the NBA champions. Most of the Celtics team participated in a tour of the White House and in the presentation. Sam Cassell, Eddie House, and James Posey, who is now with the Hornets, were missing because of personal reasons.
Eddie House was born on May 14, 1978 in Berkeley, California and is the son of Edward and Debbie House. He has two brothers, Diallo and Mychal. He was married to Charlsie Bibby during his rookie season with Miami in 2000-01 and they have three sons, Jaelen and twins Kaden and Kalek. Jealen was a fixture on the Celtics bench this past year. Charlsie is the sister of the Hawks' guard, Mike Bibby, and his father-in-law is former NBA player and Southern California head coach Henry Bibby. He has two dogs named Passion and Rizzo. He loves watching movies and has an extensive collection of DVDs.
House attended Hayward High School in Hayward, California. Their official mascot is the Farmer, which dates back to Hayward's agricultural roots. After high school, House went on to Arizona State, where he played 4 years.
He finished his four-year Arizona State career as the school's leading scorer with 2,044 points, and also the school's all-time steals leader with 258. He was just the second player in Pac-10 history to notch 2,000 points and 250 steals with Gary Payton being the other. He did not miss a game in his 124-game career with the Sun Devils. His toughness was never in doubt, as in his junior year he broke his jaw in practice on October 22, 1998, and had it wired for the first six games. Living on a diet of milkshakes and soup he averaged 19.3 points, including a 31-point effort vs. Kansas State when he played all 45 minutes of an overtime game. He scored 39 points versus UNLV in the first game back from having the wires removed. In his freshman season (1996-97), he suffered chipped teeth and had to get three root canals following a 2 p.m. game in the Great Alaska Shootout, but he had seven three-pointers the next day vs. Maine in a noon tip-off. I guess he and Paul Pierce have a lot in common. House set a single-game Arizona State record with a 61-point effort in double-overtime against the University of California Golden Bears on the road in his senior season.
House was selected by the Miami Heat in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft with the 37th overall pick. He played 3 seasons for Miami from 2000 through 2003. In those 3 seasons, he averaged 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. He signed with the Clippers for the 2003-'04 season ans averaged 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 19.8 mpg over 60 games.
In the 2004-05 season, he played for 3 different teams. He was traded to Charlotte in July and started the season with them, playing in 13 games before being waived in December. He was picked up off waivers by Milwaukee but was waived by them in January after playing in only 5 games. He was once again picked up off waivers, this time by the Kings and finished the season with them, playing in 50 games. Over the year, he averaged 6.3 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. He signed a one year contract with Phoenix in September of 2005 and played in 81 games for them averaging 9.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 17.5 minutes off the bench. He signed with the Nets in August of 2006 and played in 56 games averaging 7.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists over 16.9 minutes per game. He had a rough end of the season for the Nets. He suffered food poisoning on March 27 but played in the game on the 29th and in that game suffered a concussion when he was fouled on a layup attempt and the back of his head appeared to land on a photographer's knee. He also suffered a partially torn hip muscle and was out for the remainder of the regular season.
He was picked up before last season to back up Rajon Rondo at the point. House is a combo guard and there were a kit if questions as to whether he could play the point effectively, even though he had played the position previously. He played very well all season and played very well behind Rondo at the point. When the Celtics signed Sam Cassell in March for the stretch run and the playoffs, Eddie House was the forgotten man and was relegated to the playing behind both Rondo and Cassell.
Eddie showed a lot of class in that he never complained although he helped them to the best record in the league and then was all but forgotten when they got to the playoffs. But, a funny thing happened on the way to the Finals. Sam wasn't effective and Doc once again turned to Eddie, who was ready to play and helped the Celtics to win the title.
As the offseason began, it appeared as though House may have been the odd man out as the Celtics were offering the MLE to James Posey. But, when Posey signed with the Hornets, it didn't take long for the Celtics to ink House to a 2 year deal. Eddie brought instant offense off the bench last season as well as being a very decent back up point guard. We can expect more of the same this season as he has been working in the off season to improve his shooting and skills. One thing we know for sure, House has the concept of Ubuntu down and no matter when Doc calls him, he will be ready to contribute.
According to the LA Times, the Celtics will be meeting with President Bush at the White House on Friday, September 19. The president will be meeting with the President of Kuwait at 10:15 AM and then at 3:00 PM, he will meet with the Boston Celtics in the East Room (it has high ceilings).
Comcast SportsNet has an interview with Paul Pierce. Gary Tanguay talks to Paul about his summer as a champion, the upcoming season, and even some tips on fatherhood for new Dad Greg Dickerson. Good to see Paul back in Boston and ready to defend the title.
Leon Powe was born on January 22, 1984 in Oakland, California. He attended Oakland Technical high school. This kid has had a rough life and has come through it a strong person and a gritty basketball player. By now, you probably know his story. His father bolted the family when Leon was two, leaving his mother to support Leon and his newborn brother Tim. For awhile, his mom managed to hold down a variety of jobs which when supplemented by public assistance and a little help from Landry's mother, kept a roof over their heads.
When Leon was seven, while he was at school and his mother at work his younger brother Tim was left unsupervised briefly while his grandmother was babysitting and he came across some matches and accidentally burned the house to the ground. This drove the family into a homeless shelter for awhile and began a seven-year odyssey in which the family rarely stayed in one place for long. They stayed with Landry's mother for a short time, and with her Aunt Jessie for awhile before she went into a nursing home. The family stayed in various shelters in Richmond and Oakland, they lived for awhile in transitional housing and shabby apartments, as well as in residential hotels. Leon estimated that they made at least twenty moves in all but there were so many, it was hard to keep count.
Leon's mother got into legal trouble for petty theft when she was caught stealing groceries to feed her family as well as being convicted of welfare fraud. She was sentenced to ninety days in county jail and ordered to pay restitution. She was then accepted for a work furlough program and her sentence was suspended. To make matters worse, Landry kept getting pregnant by various men. In December 1992 she gave birth to Leon's half-brother Richard. Unable to work with an infant, she left her job and tried to make money selling odds and ends that she found behind storage units at the flea market. Baby Jessica was born next, followed closely by Michael. Tatiana and Christine would come along later.
Over time, the burden of trying to keep her family together and care for them proved to be too much for Powe’s mother. With no steady income to support her family, and a building drug habit, child Protective Services took control of Leon and his brothers and sisters and placed all but one into foster care. His sister Christine went to live with her father who had been Landry's boyfriend at the time.
As the oldest child, Leon often had to care for his younger siblings. As a result, his attendance in school was sporadic. He would be absent for days and sometimes weeks at a time, and he missed the fifth grade entirely. But rather than being bitter about this, he will tell you that it made him more responsible and more appreciative of what he has now.
By the time Leon entered sixth grade a year late, he was already six feet tall. Powe wasn't into basketball at the time in spite of his size. He would shoot around at the park but he didn't try out for the school team. Instead, he spent much of his spare time hanging out with a friend, Shamare Freeman. Shamare was headed for trouble and at times Leon went along with his friend. At first it was small things like shoplifting but Shamare was moving toward serious crimes such as drug-dealing and stealing cars. It was about this time that Leon moved again, which fortunately for him put some distance between he and his friend. It was around this time that Leon began developing a friendship with Shamare's older half-brother Bernard Ward.
Ward had been an All State Junior College basketball player and had gotten offers at some colleges but slipped and got into drugs and ended up spending time in jail. After he got out of jail, he tried to get back into playing but broke an ankle which ended his hopes of a college basketball career. He got his life outside of basketball in order, however and became a counselor. It was at this time that Leon approached Ward and asked him to help him with his game. At first Ward didn't take him too seriously but Leon persisted. To see if Leon was serious, Ward told him to run seven laps at a local school and then shoot jump shots until the sun went down. As Ward secretly watched Powe complete the unsupervised workout, he came away impressed with Leon's work ethic and self discipline. Ward became Leon's mentor, father figure, and guardian.
While Leon began to impress on the basketball court, his schoolwork was much less impressive with a GPA of 1.9 his first semester. Another family friend, Jonas Zuckermann was enlisted to work with Leon on his studies and found him a very willing pupil. Most of his struggles stemmed from having missed so much time in school while growing up. By the start of his sophomore season, his grades were greatly improved and his basketball skills were blossoming.
During his junior year in high school, his mother died of a heart attack at the age of 41 just days before his team was to play for the state title. He had remained close to his mother and the loss weighed heavily on him. Just weeks later, he tore the ACL in his left knee in an AAU tournament. He came back to play his senior year on his reconstructed knee and was named a Parade All American, a McDonalds All American and a top 10 prospect for college recruiters.
Powe played his college basketball for the California Golden Bears from 2003-2006. After his freshman season at Cal, he was named PAC 10 freshman of the year and became the first freshman in PAC 10 history to lead the conference in rebounding. In his freshman year, his GPA dipped below 2.0 and he was forced to sit out several games. Showing just what kind of determination he has, he improved his gpa to a 3.5 by his junior year.
But, he still had severe pain in his reconstructed knee and he had surgery for a bone graft to relieve that pain. His knee didn't respond and they operated again and reconstructed the knee for a second time, his third major surgery on the same knee in the span of 2 years. A lesser person would have given up. But Powe persevered and went through rehab once again and he returned to Cal and became a dominant force, averaging 20.5 point per game and 10.1 rebounds per game, becoming only the 6th player ever to lead the conference in both categories and was named a second team All American. As a sign of the type of person Leon is, he went back to thank the surgeon who reconstructed his knee.
Powe entered the draft after his junior season and was taken by the Nuggets with the 49th pick and immediately traded to the Celtics. Danny didn't have any picks left, but when he saw Powe still available, he got on the phones trying to make a deal with any team to get him. In spite of having great promise, teams were scared to take a chance on him because of his knee problems.
In Powe's first season with the Celtics, he didn't see much playing time but when he did get on the court, good things seemed to happen. Several times after Leon was a difference maker in a game, Doc said that he would have to find more playing time for him, but he never seemed to do so. But, Leon always made the most of the minutes he got and never stopped working to improve his game. After the season, Leon delivered hand written thank you notes to everyone involved with the team.
His nickname in high school and college was "The Show." That is a great nickname, but the players on the Celtics' Summer League team his first season gave him a new nickname: "The Grown Man" because he is built like a Mack truck and is very mature for his age. I guess going through all the adversity has made him wise beyond his years as well as a very strong and gritty player. You have to pull for a kid who has gone through so much and yet has seemed to rise above it all.
This past season, Leon once again got sporadic playing time. He played in 56 games and averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in just over 14 minutes per game. As with his first season, he made the very most of every minute he played. In game 2 of the playoffs, Leon burst out with 21 points and 2 rebounds in just 14 minutes of play. After the game, Phil Jackson even mispronounced his name in the press conference. But, even that couldn't detract from the clinic that Leon put on during the game as he helped his team to a 2-0 lead in the series.
Leon donates a lot of his time helping kids and does free and low cost basketball camps every offseason that he calls his Powe Folks Basketball Camps. He uses his money to help care for his siblings. This offseason he took his family on a vacation. He had this to say at a recent promotional event:
"We've got to step up. I always love a challenge. I told coach (Doc Rivers) whenever you put me out there I am giving 110 percent. If I am missing shots, I am still rebounding and playing (defense). If I'm making shots, I am fighting for every loose ball and every inch I can get on the court."
He works very hard on and off the court to make himself a better basketball player and a better person. We can all hope that Danny gives Leon an extension because in a league where many players act like prima donnas and are always in the news for some trouble or other, Leon Powe is a breath of fresh air and a player that will add class and grit to any team he is on. Consider me firmly on the Leon Powe bandwagon.
