[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H8801-H8804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE MEMORY OF ARNOLD ``RED'' AUERBACH

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 497) to honor the memory of 
Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 497

       Whereas Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach was born on September 20, 
     1917, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrants from 
     Minsk, Russia;
       Whereas Red started playing basketball as a public school 
     student in Brooklyn and later became a star guard for Eastern 
     District High School, making all-scholastic second team in 
     his senior year;
       Whereas Red started his coaching career at St. Albans Prep 
     School and Roosevelt High School in Washington, D.C., before 
     serving in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946;
       Whereas, in 1946, Red began his professional coaching 
     career with the Washington Capitols in the Basketball 
     Association of America (BAA) and led the team to the 1947 and 
     1949 division titles, joining the Boston Celtics as coach in 
     1950 after the BAA merged with the National Basketball 
     Association (NBA);
       Whereas Red's record of success on the basketball court and 
     in the Celtics' front office is unmatched;
       Whereas during Red's leadership of the Boston Celtics, the 
     team won 16 NBA championships, including 9 championships, 
     with a record 8 in a row, during Red's tenure as coach;
       Whereas when Red retired from coaching in 1966 to become 
     general manager of the Celtics, he was the winningest coach 
     in NBA history with 1,037 victories and had won almost two-
     thirds of the games he had coached over a 20-year NBA 
     coaching career;
       Whereas during his nearly 57-year tenure with the Celtics 
     as Head Coach, General Manager, Vice Chairman of the Board, 
     and President, Red was the architect of one of the greatest 
     dynasties in the history of professional sports;
       Whereas Red infused the Celtics organization with the 
     values of teamwork, respect, tenacity, and loyalty, creating 
     a culture known as ``Celtic Pride'' that will be forever 
     associated with the Boston Celtics franchise;
       Whereas Red's imprint on the Celtics, the NBA, and the game 
     of basketball is permanent and visible today in innovations 
     that Red developed, including the ``sixth man'' role and fast 
     break style of play;
       Whereas Red was an effective and tireless ambassador for 
     the game of basketball, both in the United States and 
     overseas, conducting clinics, barnstorming with the Celtics, 
     starring in the successful television series ``Red on 
     Roundball'', writing 7 books on basketball, including the 
     influential ``Basketball For The Player, The Coach, and The 
     Fan'', and participating with Celtic great and Hall of Famer 
     Larry Bird in the instructional video, ``Winning 
     Basketball'';
       Whereas Red received numerous awards and honors in 
     recognition of his extraordinary achievements, such as 
     selection as the NBA Coach of the Year in 1965, induction 
     into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969, 
     designation as the NBA ``Executive of the Year'' in 1980, and 
     selection as ``The Greatest Coach in the History of the NBA'' 
     by the Professional Basketball Writers' Association of 
     America in 1980;

[[Page H8802]]

       Whereas Red's lighting of his cigar in the closing moments 
     of an imminent Celtics' victory became an enduring symbol of 
     success in Boston and around the world;
       Whereas Red's legacy extends beyond the game of basketball 
     and includes his important contributions to the advancement 
     of a colorblind society through his decision to draft the 
     NBA's first African-American player, Chuck Cooper, in 1950, 
     hire the first African-American head coach in professional 
     sports, Bill Russell, in 1966, and field the first starting 
     lineup in the NBA consisting entirely of African-American 
     players in 1964; and
       Whereas the name ``Red Auerbach'' will forever be 
     synonymous with winning, intensity, integrity, and charitable 
     causes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach was a basketball genius who 
     embodied the values of creativity, determination, 
     versatility, and commitment to helping the less fortunate;
       (2) Red Auerbach was a leader in the effort to remove 
     racial barriers and allow merit to prevail in professional 
     sports, through his decisions to draft, hire, and prominently 
     feature African-Americans on the Boston Celtics basketball 
     team; and
       (3) Red Auerbach's place among the greatest coaches and 
     executives of all time is assured, his contributions to the 
     betterment of society will always endure, and his life 
     exemplifies the very best ideals of the United States.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia 
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, few coaches or managers in the history of sports, let 
alone basketball, are as legendary as Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach. His 
career with the Boston Celtics began in 1950, and right away he began 
setting new records and benchmarks.
  The Celtics won nine NBA championships in 10 seasons under his watch 
as coach, and Auerbach's draft of an African American was a first for 
the NBA. He continued to break down racial barriers in sports as the 
first coach in the NBA to start with a lineup of all black players, and 
the first executive in the history of all professional sports to 
appoint a black coach.
  He revolutionized the way basketball was played, focusing entirely on 
the team rather than on individuals, and he created an arsenal of 
tactics that had never been used before.
  Red Auerbach will also be remembered for his lively personality on 
and off the court. His passion for the game was second to none, and 
Celtic fans awaited with anticipation for him to ceremoniously light 
his cigar on the sidelines, a signal to everyone that the game belonged 
to his team.
  Coaches with the talent and spark like Red Auerbach are indeed rare. 
In honor of all he did for the game of basketball and professional 
sports as a whole, I urge all Members to join me in supporting this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the resolution that 
recognizes the achievements and the life of famed basketball coach, 
Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach. Auerbach was both a player and a coach during 
his career in collegiate and professional basketball, but we all best 
remember Red as the cigar-chewing coach of the Boston Celtics.
  As coach of the Celtics, Auerbach led his team to ten Eastern 
Division titles in 16 years and nine National Basketball Association 
titles overall. His most astonishing achievement of his 17-year career 
as coach of the Celtics was winning eight straight NBA titles, a feat 
unmatched before or since.
  Red coached the Celtics from 1959 to 1966, but he did not stray far 
from the team when his coaching days ended. He moved from the court to 
the front office and was an executive with the franchise until 1980. 
Auerbach will always be remembered as the coach of one of the most 
famous basketball dynasties in history. He will always be regarded by 
many as the best NBA coach of all time.
  The picture of Red Auerbach that most of us carry in our minds is the 
image of him lighting up a cigar on the sidelines after his Celtics had 
won another game, but there are a few lesser known facts about Auerbach 
that mean a great deal to me and to all African Americans.
  Red's great vision led him to draft the first African American 
basketball player in NBA history, he was the first coach to start an 
all African American lineup in the NBA, and Auerbach was the first 
executive to hire an African American to coach a professional 
basketball team. Red changed the way professionals play the game of 
basketball, and these achievements helped to change the face of 
basketball as well.
  On October 28, the basketball world lost a great coach, and the rest 
of us lost a great American citizen. Although we mourn his loss and 
will miss his presence at NBA events, we cannot help but see his 
influence on the game of basketball, wherever it is played. I ask for 
the adoption of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the cosponsor of this 
resolution with me.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, and I thank the 
Members of the House for allowing us to have these few minutes on the 
floor of the House of Representatives to honor, to recognize one of the 
greatest Americans of the 20th century, one of the greatest basketball 
coaches of all time, but also a man who was a pioneer in race 
relations.
  In 1950, he was the first person to draft in the NBA an African 
American. In 1966, he named Bill Russell as the coach of the Boston 
Celtics, the first African American coach of any major sport in the 
United States. In 1965, he won the NBA title playing five African 
American starters on an NBA team. No one had ever done that before, 
because he was blind to race.
  I know this, because in 1959 when I was 13 years old, Red Auerbach 
decided that he was going to have four teams that would alternate 
playing a game at Boston Garden right before the Boston Celtic game at 
1 o'clock. He had a YMHA team, Young Men's Hebrew Association; a 
Chinese American team; an African American team from Roxbury; and he 
had a CYO team, a Catholic Youth Organization team, and I was on that 
team. I was one of the 10 boys on that Catholic team. And we played 
alternating Sundays right before the Celtics game, in uniform with all 
the fans coming in; Chinese, African American, Jewish, white, in 
Boston, in 1959.
  Red Auerbach was a very special man, because he was dedicated to 
being color-blind. He was dedicated to excellence, regardless of where 
the talent came from. It was a message that all of us in Boston saw and 
heard, and to a very large extent this new African American Governor, 
this great new Governor that we have in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, 
he is a political godchild not only of Bobby Kennedy and John F. 
Kennedy and Martin Luther King, but also in Boston, in Massachusetts, 
of Red Auerbach and the message he was sending through Bill Russell, 
through these other players a generation ago, to all of us in our 
State. So we are so, so proud of him.

                              {time}  1415

  He always knew that a team could be bigger than the sum of its parts 
if they all worked together. That was his message. That was something 
that made him the most successful basketball coach in the history of 
basketball. It was that notion of teamwork.
  After each victory, he pulled out a cigar, and I know that it is in 
violation of House rules to smoke, although in the State of 
Massachusetts, in all public places, it is illegal to smoke, except 
written into the law Red Auerbach, because he had a special exception, 
and out here on the House floor today, to Red I say that you were the 
ultimate winner, that you were someone who not only won on the court 
but you won

[[Page H8803]]

in life and you sent that message to all of us. We thank you for your 
example.
  I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia for recognizing 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution to honor 
``Red'' Auerbach, the legendary basketball coach and executive of the 
Boston Celtics, who passed away in October at the age of 89.
  Mr. Speaker, Red Auerbach was a winner. As a coach, he won more than 
a thousand games, including 9 world championships and an unbelievable 8 
in a row--a record that still stands today. Overall, he won almost two-
thirds of the games he coached over a 20-year NBA career. The 16 world 
championship banners that hang from the rafters in Boston Garden today 
are an everlasting testament to Red's incredible talent.
  As an executive leading the Celtics, he was the architect of one of 
the greatest dynasties in the history of professional sports. The 
players he brought onto the Celtics--often by outwitting and 
outmaneuvering the general managers of the other teams in the league--
remain among the greatest to ever play the game: Bill Russell; Bob 
Cousy; John Havlicek; Kevin McHale; and of course, Larry Bird.
  Red understood that it took much more than individual stars to win 
consistently. That's why he constructed teams with players who knew and 
excelled at their specific roles, building a whole that always was 
greater than the sum of its parts. It wasn't unusual for players from 
other teams to suddenly start playing better when they joined the 
Celtics than they ever had with their previous team.
  Red infused the entire Celtics organization with the values of 
teamwork, respect, tenacity and loyalty, creating a culture known as 
``Celtic Pride'' that forever will be associated with the Boston 
Celtics franchise.
  It's impossible to overstate Red's impact on the City of Boston and 
the entire New England region. With his leadership, the Celtics became 
hometown heroes, and Red was a living legend.
  Growing up as a boy in Massachusetts, I always got a thrill when Red 
would let the CYO teams from across the state play on that incredible 
parquet floor in Boston Garden. It was a highlight for us, and it also 
was an example of Red's work to break down racial and class barriers. 
To have white kids and black kids, Hispanic and Jewish kids from 
communities across the state mixing together was unusual in Boston in 
the 50s and early 60s, and Red was the one making it happen.
  Red's lasting impact on our country transcends basketball. His 
unrivalled ability to identify gifted players was fueled by his laser 
focus on talent and attitude, which left no room for considerations of 
race, creed or color.
  In 1950, Red drafted the NBA's first African-American player, Chuck 
Cooper. He hired the first African-American head coach in professional 
sports in 1966 in Bill Russell and was the first coach to put together 
a starting lineup consisting entirely of African-American players in 
1964.
  While Red made his indelible mark in Boston, his home remained in 
Washington, DC throughout his career with the Celtics. I was fortunate 
to be invited to Red's famous lunches at the China Pearl restaurant, 
where Red would hold court in the middle of a diverse group of 
journalists, athletes, doctors, coaches, and other friends he had made 
over the years. Watching Red, it was clear that he was a natural 
leader--he would have made a great Speaker of the House in his day.
  Red's place among the greatest coaches and executives of all time is 
assured, his contributions to the betterment of society will always 
endure, and his life exemplifies the very best ideals of our country.
  There will never be another Red Auerbach--he was an American 
original. Our hearts go out to Red's family and friends. I encourage my 
colleagues to support this resolution in Red's honor.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thank the gentleman for those comments. That is a very appropriate 
prop to use this time. I have just an additional word about Red 
Auerbach.
  Mr. Speaker, when you have won two-thirds of the games you ever 
coached over a 20-year period, there is hardly anybody in America who 
is not going to claim you. Brooklyn has every right to claim Red 
Auerbach for growing up there. Boston certainly claims him. Actually, 
Russia could claim him. The man was born in Russia, and we remember the 
time when Russia used to claim to invent everything whether it happened 
there. Well, this did happen there.
  I am here to claim Red Auerbach, too, because he actually began his 
coaching career right here in the District of Columbia, coaching on two 
high school teams, one, a private high school team, St. Albans; the 
other, a public high school team, Roosevelt High School. Wouldn't you 
know it?
  The great characteristics of sportsmanship should be remembered as 
much as the more than thousand games that Red Auerbach won, the notion 
of respect and loyalty, the culture he brought to the game, which, if I 
may say so, often today seems absent from the game and from sports. As 
we remember Red Auerbach, I hope we will remember his standards and the 
culture that he insisted upon by the example he set in the sport where 
he excelled above all others.
  He never stopped working for basketball in countless ways, as an 
ambassador of the game, his television series, Red on Round Ball. The 
man wrote seven books about basketball.
  Finally, of course, today it may seem unbelievable that as recently 
as 1950 Auerbach distinguished himself by drafting the first African 
American player in the NBA, Chuck Cooper. Goodness sakes, very late in 
the history of our country, particularly if we consider that the game 
is, if anything, inordinately dependent today on African American 
players.
  Then, of course, about 16 years later, it would seem he hired the 
first African American head coach in professional sports. That is a 
real breakthrough because you have to have the courage to move with 
someone whom you believe can do exactly what you are doing and what 
those who are leaders of the game did, and of course he found the right 
man and the right time in Bill Russell. As recently as 1964, Red 
started the first all African American lineup of players. I think there 
was some reluctance to do that by some. Regardless of what it might 
have done for the game before that, Red Auerbach simply did it.
  There are many ways, Mr. Speaker, for a man or a woman to show 
courage on race. There are many ways to be a civil rights leader. For 
America and especially for those who needed him most, we in the House 
today say thanks, Red.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 
497. As a Boston Celtics fan, I am proud to be a cosponsor of this 
resolution, which honors the memory of Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach.
  Red Auerbach was known as the man who turned the Boston Celtics into 
a dynasty franchise. A fiery and competitive coach, he understood the 
importance of each individual player's role on a team. He was also a 
savvy businessman who made his decisions based on what was best for his 
team, regardless of how society might have viewed him. His methods and 
coaching styles were copied by many, leading to Auerbach being called 
the inventor of modern professional basketball and one of the greatest 
coaches in professional sports history.
  Born on September 20, 1917, in Brooklyn, NY, Auerbach was a 
basketball captain and also school president at Eastern District High 
School. He went on to earn both a bachelor's and a master's degree from 
George Washington University, where he played basketball for three 
years. His marriage in 1941 to Dorothy Lewis, as well as his ties to 
his alma mater, led Auerbach to establish his home in the Washington, 
DC area, where he also began his basketball coaching career. In 1950, 
he began his legendary run as the head coach of the Boston Celtics.
  As the Celtics coach, he won nine National Basketball Association 
championships, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966, which still 
stands as a record in North American professional sports. Fearless and 
not easily swayed by the prevalent attitudes surrounding him, Auerbach 
drafted the NBA's first black player, named the first black coach in 
any professional sports league, and had the first all-black starting 
lineup in NBA history. After the 1966 season, he decided to hand over 
the coaching reins, but remained with the Celtics as an executive, and 
he would be affiliated with the organization for the rest of his life.
  Red Auerbach passed away on October 28, 2006, just shy of attending 
his 57th straight Celtics game opener in Boston. Red Auerbach was the 
epitome of the Celtics, and his legendary status made it seem he would 
live forever. While it is hard to picture the Celtics and the world 
without him, Red Auerbach has left his mark. His guiding principles--
family, loyalty, teamwork--should not only be taught on the basketball 
court, but guidelines we should all follow.
  Red Auerbach leaves behind two daughters, Nancy Collins and Randy; 
one granddaughter; and three great grandchildren. May we keep his loved 
ones in our thoughts and prayers, and may his memory live on forever.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page H8804]]

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Aderholt). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
497.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those voting having 
responded in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the 
concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________