With an unmatched record in U.S. professional sports, Arnold “Red” Auerbach threw in the towel on being an NBA head coach when he coached his last game for the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the 1966 NBA Finals series. It was against their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston won the game, the series, and the title — their eighth consecutive and ninth overall. In the years that followed, Celtics star big man Bill Russell served as a player-coach, becoming the first Black head coach not only in NBA history but in the histories of the four major North American sports. Red earned his retirement to a front-office job, having amassed a 938-479 record as a head coach, most of it with the Celtics.
To watch clips from that historic game, check out the video embedded below, courtesy of our friends over at CLNS Media’s “NBA History & Legends on CLNS” YouTube channel.
If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” “Celtics Lab,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.
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