Coach, civil rights pioneer

Arnold "Red" Auerbach probably isn't among the names that spring to mind when discussing people who advanced the cause of race relations. But it should be.

Hard as it may be for today's generation of fans to believe, racial segregation was once the official policy of professional basketball. Auerbach, the legendary coach of the Boston Celtics who died Saturday at 89 and will be buried today, changed all that.

In 1947, it was a historic and controversial moment for the nation when Brooklyn Dodgers' president, Branch Rickey, chose Jackie Robinson to break baseball's color barrier. Three years later, Auerbach, in his first season coaching the Celtics, selected Chuck Cooper in the NBA draft. Cooper became the league's first black player.

(Auerbach: Died Saturday at 89. / AP)

That was only one of many firsts promoted by Auerbach, who coached his team to a dynasty of nine NBA championships.

In the 1963-64 season, Auerbach's Celtics became the first team to field an all-black starting five. (That was two years before Texas Western College became the first team in NCAA history to start five black players and won the national title.) And when Auerbach retired from coaching in 1966 with an astounding record of 938-479, he selected center Bill Russell to take over as player-coach, making Russell the first black coach in American professional sports.

Auerbach never intended to be a pioneer in race relations, though his moves were courageous in the Boston of the 1960s, a city beset by ugly racial tensions rubbed raw by a school desegregation plan. His goal was much simpler: He passionately and relentlessly wanted to win basketball games.

"The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team," he once proclaimed. "They are a way of life." His players described him as color blind. All he cared about was an individual's talent, effort and willingness to be a team player.

Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay once asked Auerbach how he handled players. "I never handle players," he replied with characteristic bluntness. "You handle animals. You treat players with respect." And that's why they played so magnificently for him. He created an atmosphere "where every guy could do his best," Russell said.

Auerbach was the dominating figure in basketball for much of the past 50 years. He was the first coach to put a premium on defense. He created the sixth-man role. His trademark was lighting a cigar when it was clear that his team had notched another victory. His greatest legacy, however, was to reshape his sport into one in which ability counted for more than skin color.