496) Arnold "Red" Auerbach

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (1917 – 2006). American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As a coach, he won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and nine National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in ten years (a number surpassed only by Phil Jackson, who won 11 in twenty years). As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.
In 1980, he was named the greatest coach in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America, and was NBA Executive of the Year in 1980. In addition, Auerbach was voted one of the NBA 10 Greatest Coaches in history, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and is honored with a retired number 2 jersey in the TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics.

- "With his flaming red hair and fiery temper, Auerbach was soon nicknamed "Red." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach

- "Arnold was nicknamed Red because of his red hair and ferocious temper on the basketball court." http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/red-auerbach-ac…/