“To me, the greatest thing that you can accomplish is friendship. For me, personally, our friendship will last through eternity." – Bill Russell
Red Auerbach, the Hall of Famer and basketball icon who guided the Celtics to 16 championships - first as a coach and later as general manager – passed away on October 28, 2006. He was 89. The tributes and remembrances poured forth. "He was relentless and produced the greatest basketball dynasty so far that this country has ever seen and certainly that the NBA has ever seen," said Bob Cousy, the point guard for many of Auerbach's championship teams, who referred to his coach by his given name. "This is a personal loss for me. Arnold and I have been together since 1950”. Tom Heinsohn, who played under Auerbach and then coached the Celtics when he was their general manager, remembered his friend and mentor. "He was exceptional at listening and motivating people to put out their very best," Heinsohn said. "In my playing days he once gave me a loaded cigar and six months later I gave him one. That was our relationship. We had a tremendous amount of fun and the game of basketball will never see anyone else like him." Auerbach's 938 victories made him the winningest coach in NBA history until Lenny Wilkens overtook him during the 1994-95 season. "Beyond his incomparable achievements, Red had come to be our basketball soul and our basketball conscience," NBA commissioner David Stern said, "the void left by his death will never be filled."
Immediately after Auerbach passed away, Bill Russell refused to speak publicly about a relationship that was so deeply personal. He stated later, "I do feel a tremendous sense of loss, because if you are fortunate and you have a few friends--because they are so important--if they leave before you do there is an empty space. There's basically no obvious reason that we would be friends, because we came from such diverse places, but we met in a common place, on common grounds. We both are born, live and die but while we are here there are things that we accomplish. To me, the greatest thing that you can accomplish is friendship. For me, personally, our friendship will last through eternity."
In tribute to Red Auerbach the offered cigar humidor was placed posthumously in his Boston office by the executive and administrative staff of the Boston Celtics. The cedar lined 10-1/4”x9”x4-1/2” humidor features a dark cherry wood finish and is adorned with an engraved placard on the top that reads, “In Memory of Anrold ‘Red’ Auerbach 9/20/1917 – 10/28/2006”. Twenty-two Jose Gener “Hoyo De Monterrey” cigars remain inside. A poignant memento from the estate of the Red Auerbach. Includes a letter of provenance from the Auerbach estate.