This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/1/2011
Arnold "Red" Auerbach was both a highly successful basketball coach and an influential front office executive for the Boston Celtics. As coach of the Celtics from 1950 to 1966, Auerbach won nine NBA titles, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966 – the longest consecutive string of championships in the history of North American professional sports. After retiring from coaching, he continued to serve as the general manager or president of the Celtics from 1966 until 1997, and again as president from 2001 until his death. Auerbach's success rested not only with his shrewd basketball acumen, but the family atmosphere that he established on his team, and especially the bond of friendship between himself and his players.
As Celtics GM Auerbach raised eyebrows around the league in 1978 when he drafted Larry Bird as a "junior eligible" and then had to wait a year while Bird finished playing at Indiana State University. If Auerbach and Bird's representatives had not been able to come to an agreement, Bird would have been free to reenter the next year's draft, but Auerbach was confident he could sign Bird and he did. The next year, Larry Bird, and the Celtics had a 31-game turnaround, the largest at the time in NBA History, making it the signing of Bird one of Auerbach's most notable moves at General Manager. Auerbach won the NBA Executive of the Year Award with the Celtics in the 1979-80 season. Red's 1979-80 NBA Executive of the Year Award offered here measures 9" by 13". it features a likeness of Red in relief and titling, "The Sporting News 1979-80 National Basketball Association Executive of the Year Red Auerbach Boston Celtics." The plaque has a few scratches on the surface area around Red's image. It is accompanied by an original photograph of Red holding the plaque along with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (with 1979-80 MVP award) and Celtics coach Bill Fitch (with 1979-80 Coach of The Year Award). Includes a letter of provenance from the Auerbach estate.