The legendary Red Auerbach – everyone has a story.  Do you have one in particular that stands out?
 
One story?  Anyone who has ever played for Red has heard his stories at least three times, and the ones that have been around him for years, like John Havlicek and Nellie, have heard each one at least 50 times [laughs].

Seriously, there is no exaggerating how good Red was when it came to basketball.  The man was a true genius.  He built the Celtics into champions three different times and is responsible for all sixteen banners.  You don’t do that by accident.  A lot of his critics like to say that Bill Russell was the reason for Red’s success, but I don’t agree with that assessment.  Red understood that you had to be lucky – the trade that landed Russell is a perfect example – but he also made the most out of the opportunities that came his way.  So to say that Russell was the sole reason for his success isn’t a valid argument.  He had a gift.  He won before Russell, and he won after Russell was gone.

There is another misconception about Red – that he was hard to play for.  In fact it was quite the opposite.  When people think of Red they tend to think of him screaming his head off, but Red really didn’t scream at his players.  He saved all of that for the poor referees [laughs].  He was a great teacher, and he knew how to treat his players.  He supported them.

When I was with the Celtics, Red would somehow always make his way over to me and share something he noticed during a game.  Maybe something was wrong with my shot, or the way I dribbled or defended.  Whatever the case, Red would always seem to join me at adjoining urinal as I waited for a shower, and he would tell me one thing that I needed to work on during the next practice.  I learned so much from him during my career with the Celtics.

You’ve said that Elgin Baylor is the player you most admired.  I grew up a short distance from Jerry West’s hometown – did you follow Jerry when he played for the Lakers?
 
Absolutely.  I admired Jerry, and early on people often compared the two of us.  I guess part of it was because we were both white, but our games were quite dissimilar prior to my knee injury.  Jerry was a guard in the classic sense – he had that beautiful, pure jump shot – whereas I was more apt to drive to the basket.  So from a physical standpoint I had a resemblance to Jerry, but from an aesthetic standpoint I more closely resembled Elgin Baylor.  And to a large degree I modeled my game after Baylor.  He had that one-legged jumper, which became a part of my game, and he drove the basketball much more than Jerry did.  I emulated him.  I would go into the paint and create, sometimes throwing up those crazy shots like Baylor [laughs].  After the knee injury I altered my style of play somewhat, becoming more of the traditional perimeter player like Jerry.

Your second season with the Celtics brought with it an NBA Championship – the team’s first without the great Bill Russell.  Please tell me about that memorable Game 6 in the Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
 
Kareem hit the skyhook from the corner as time ran out.  I remember it well because it happened right in front of me; I was watching from the bench [laughs]!  The whole series was memorable, and for a number of reasons.  The home team clearly didn’t have an advantage, and I believe that was because of the incredible adjustments made by both coaches.  That series was one of the best examples of counter-punching I’ve ever seen.  To win it, to beat Oscar Robertson and Kareem for the title…that was just a special feeling.  Incredible.  And I was so young that I thought it would always be like that [laughs].