Written by Graham Brunell
Thanks to Leroy Watson for editing this article.
Puff.
One of the most dangerous and ominous words currently in America. With the phenomenon of drugs in the teenage life, and drug abuse affecting almost everyone across America, fear is present in everyone's eyes when it comes not only drugs, but tobacco smoking.
But back in the glory days of the '40s, '50s, and '60s, a single wisp of smoke followed by a wide grin was everything but an enemy to the Celtics.
Red Auerbach's history of cigar smoking after a win is the most notable symbol of victory in sports ever. When Auerbach stuck a cannon his mouth, a silent but deadly "BOOM" went off. After that, it was inevitable that Auerbach's Celtics had just stomped all over you.
Auerbach's cigar smoking was just another way to express to his enormous amount of confidence; you could even go as far as saying he was downright cocky.
From BC Sports:
Auerbach was not known for strategy, his playbook did not consist of a series of plays and routes to run. Instead, he had a keen sense of discovering talent: he simply knew who was going to be great. He looked for the in control point guard, and the exceptional rebounder and added in three other talented players, those who could both shoot and play defense. From there, he motivated his team in the manner that only a Red Auerbach could.
He once told the Boston Globe, "It's like this: I got sick and tired of coaches playing for the TV. They'd be 20 points ahead with two minutes to go and they'd be calling plays, waving their arms, showing off. My feeling was, when you knew the game was over, then sit down and shut up.
"Back then, a lot of the coaches smoked. Joe Lapchick used to smoke on the bench all the time. I don't like cigarettes -- never touched 'em. But I do like a good cigar."
It was common for an opponent's coach to begin fidgeting when the team started to anticipate a tuft of smoke wafting through the Garden's air, tracing back to a man who slightly turns to face them, with a smirk spreading across his sly face.
Auerbach recalls years ago that the NBA order was badgering him for a number of different things. Says Auerbach, "I tried to think of something to aggravate them. They were abusing me."
When Auerbach started to smoke the barrels, he was warned that he was to stop smoking them on the bench. He responded that he'd stop smoking on the pine when "the other coaches stopped smoking cigarettes." Soon after Auerbach and other cigar companies became keen on the idea of cigar smoking on the bench, and Blackstone cigars wanted to endorse him. The rest was history.
Auerbach once said, "The cigar is a sign of relaxation. The cigarette is a sign of tension." Other coaches began to feel uncomfortable to see Auerbach unwind and light a cigar, feeling at ease and without any sign of worry on his face.
Auerbach's players knew they had the upper hand when Red slipped out a large cigar, and lit it with such a nerve that the victim on the other side of the court couldn't help but look down feeling ashamed.
Red was so competitive that he'd do anything to intimidate the visiting team -- to have any sort of advantage. Red was all about annoying the killer instinct out of the other team, so his team would be able to win on sheer aggressiveness and hostility. Turning off the hot water in the opposing teams' locker room; gluing the windows shut on a stifling hot Boston day in the visitors' clubhouse; filling the Garden with smoke so as to instill panic in the losing teams' hearts.
Heck, Auerbach even managed to put aside the ignorance of his days (in hopes of having a stronger chance at winning) to break the color barrier in basketball and draft the first ever African-American NBA baller, Chuck Cooper.
And not only did Auerbach do this to irritate, aggravate, and exasperate the NBA and its teams, but for his love of the game and crave for winning. Auerbach didn't just possess a satisfaction for merely popping the cigar and lighting it, but he did it because he had a passion of winning.
And when those grand clouds were released from the cigar like bulls kicking dust in a violent manner, waiting to charge furiously at the intruder, the radiance on Auerbach's face was clear.
Because the bottom line was, Red Auerbach loved four things -- basketball, winning, cigar smoking, and cigar smoking to symbolize a victory in basketball.
He had such a fire in his eyes when scanning the bench adjacent to his as if they were his puppets and he could mock them with such ease. He felt an enormous responsibility to give his team the leverage needed to emerge number one because he simply treasured them.
Auerbach's pure, clean adoration for the game was treated with a certain amount of respect by him -- he had his boundaries, but it was his belief that anything that could be undertaken to surmount in the game he clutched near and dear to his heart was most definitely necessary.
Red Auerbach was a legend, flashing with color that differed from the rest.
Whether he was held in high repute or not, all he desired was to be thought of as a winner.
The one who held his fist high in the air for a reason.
The one who was carried with such poise and elegance.
The one who had champagne dripping from his face like tears of joy.
The one who smiled like no other, and hugged his players like a bear welcoming home a brother who had brought back a fat piece of fish.
The one who puffed a lock of smoke, leaning back to show that he'd taken care of business.
