Red Is Extinguished

Sports championships and cigars go together like wine and cheese, Linus and Lucy, Hannibal Lecter and fava beans… You get my point. At what time did we see a Chicago Bulls Championship without Michael Jordan lighting one up? Heck, even the Sox of the Southside enjoyed a few at the end of the Fall Classic. The only image I have of basketballs winningest coach of all time, Arnold “Red” Auerbach, is with a cigar in hand. It’s sad to say that doctors have finally convinced Auerbach to extinguish his 50-year-old habit for good.

I say it’s sad because he’s become one of the legendary icons of the cigar smoking culture. We’ll no longer see Red savoring a good smoke as he cheers on his Boston Celtics. Recently he had spent over 10 days in a hospital, on a respirator after suffering breathing complications from two surgical procedures in August. When asked about snuffing out cigars for good, he only paused and gave the question a “cranky, dismissive wave”.

Red is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame with a career record of 1,037 – 548. Under Auerbach, the Boston Celtics forged one of the great dynasties of basketball history, winning nine divisional titles and eight straight NBA titles (only to be matched by Phil Jackson).