Did Red ever light up too soon ?

[tenn_smoothie]

My favorite Celtic of all time is Red Auerbach. He was a genius coach and team president. Of course, Red was the original arrogant trash talker and did not back down from anyone. One of his most famous habits was lighting up a cigar when a game was in hand, but not over. Comrade Silver would probably try to arrest Red for such behavior these days.

So my question is, did Red ever light up a cigar late in a game the Celtics were winning that they ended up losing, either as coach or as GM ?

[lbgreen33]

My favorite Celtic of all time is Red Auerbach. He was a genius coach and team president. Of course, Red was the original arrogant trash talker and did not back down from anyone. One of his most famous habits was lighting up a cigar when a game was in hand, but not over. Comrade Silver would probably try to arrest Red for such behavior these days.

So my question is, did Red ever light up a cigar late in a game the Celtics were winning that they ended up losing, either as coach or as GM ?

Ill be interesting to see if anyone know that?  I was shooting an NBA event in the early 2000's. There were a lot of celebrities and I wanted a break from working. I found this empty room well away from the event and went in there to chill for a little while. As I am sitting there in this fairly dark room away from everyone, K.C. Jones walks in. I was a sports cameraman and tried never to be that guy, but holy crap this was K.C. Jones! He said to me, looks like you were trying to get away from all the noise too, I laughed and said I was a huge Celtics fan. He got quite smiled and asked me, do you have a family? I said yes, I was married with 2 kids. He said, remember work is important, but the most important thing in your life is your family. I carried that with me to this day.

[tenn_smoothie]

What a great story. KC, one of the best all-time players, the perfect coach for the mid-80's Celtics and an even better person in life.
I've read so many great anecdotes about his character through the years.

But take his polite and understated demeanor at your peril. I love the story about him offering to go outside the locker room to deal with Dennis Johnson when he was having one of his early tantrums with the team because someone didn't throw him the ball. DJ was "informed" by KC on that occasion and his teammates on another that his immature selfishness would not be tolerated on the Celtics like it apparently had been with other teams. From what I observed, DJ eventually fell in love with playing for the Celtics.

Back to Red and his cigars, we may need an even older old-timer than me to answer this question, though maybe some younger, long-time fan has heard about such an incident. I gotta think if it ever happened, that it would be a well-known story in the lore of NBA history.

[tenn_smoothie]

OK, I found this story from an interview Red gave to Bob Costas in 1991.

Was there ever one time ?  Yes, just once the cigar was ignited a bit prematurely. Sportscaster Bob Costas asked Auerbach in 1991 if he ever lit up and lost the game. Without revealing the team the Celtics were playing, Auerbach told the tale .........

"We were three points ahead with 10 seconds to go (no three-point shot then) and they had the ball, Auerbach recounted. So, I lit up the cigar and said let em score. Don't touch them. Sure enough, Tom Heinsohn decides to block a shot. He hits the guy and the ball goes in. They make the free throw. They tie it up. We came back out and won in overtime. We didn't blow the game, but they tied it up, Auerbach recalled. I could have killed Tommy."

[ChillyWilly]

I read somewhere recently that Red lit up with 10 seconds to go, Tommy fouled a guy and they went to OT. No stress they still won.

[tenn_smoothie]

Another story about Red and his cigars ............ apparently not everyone was happy about them, even his own player.

"It made us all uncomfortable, Bob Cousy said. It was more offensive to us and everyone else on the road. When he did this, it got everyone's attention. And hell, we had enough hostility focused on us as it was. This was another trigger point. The fans were already angry because then it looked like they'd lose the game. And they did. This was an irritant. He sat benignly and comfortably on the bench, smoking away, with a guard behind him. Meanwhile, we were out on the floor taking all this abuse. The feeling among the players was: 'Why get their attention anymore?' The fans would get more belligerent and hostile toward us, and we had to bust our tails to keep the lead because once he went for the cigar, the other team's intensity went up 100 percent. I hated that thing."

Paul Seymour [a Syracuse Nationals player from 1949 through 1960] told me that his ambition in life was not to win an NBA championship as much as it was to have Auerbach light up prematurely and lose, so that he could go down and stuff that cigar in his face. That's all Seymour wanted to do in sports. It created this kind of reaction from opponents. As players, who needs it?"

Tom "Satch" Sanders didn't mind the smoke on the bench. "But the locker room was another story; it was close quarters in there!"
Would Auerbach put out his cigar?  "Are you kidding?" Sanders said.