“Treat men with respect”: 5 ways in which legendary coach Red Auerbach impacted Bill Russell’s life

#3 Helping players improve as teammates

Bill Russell recounts a famous quote in the book where a reporter once asked Auerbach how he got along with all the star players on his team. Pat came Auerbach’s reply, saying, “There’s ten of them and one of me. Let them get along with me!”

But outside of those moments, Auerbach was always looking to improve his players, as Russell recalled. He always sought the opinion of his players on how they wanted to conduct the offense in a game. He admitted to not knowing everything. This was very different from Auerbach’s public persona. Everyone believed him to be a dominating figure, but Auerbach was quite the opposite of that.

#4 Bill Russell admired Auerbach’s quality of being a great listener

Bill Russell says that the secret of Red Auerbach’s success was that he had “great ears”. By this, Russell doesn’t mean that Auerbach had large ears, but that he was a very good listener. Not only did Auerbach listen to a player carefully, but he would absorb the information the player passed on to him. He would then proceed to act on it if it helped the individual or the team.

Bill Russell pays Auerbach the ultimate compliment in the book by saying, “He [Auerbach] was the best listener I have ever encountered.”

#5 “How do I get the best out of these guys?”

Bill Russell says that Auerbach never complained about the players he did not have on his team. He never felt that he needed a Jerry West or Wilt Chamberlain or Elgin Baylor. His attitude was to work with the players that he had, not the ones that he did not have.

According to Russell, Auerbach worked with the players he got and the skills they had. This was different from a lot of other coaches, who wanted players to change the way they played to fit into their own system.

Russell summarized Auerbach’s attitude in this regard with the lines, “These are the guys I’m going to war with. I’m going to win with what we got. How do I get the best out of these guys?”

Surely, as Bill Russell gets inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for a second time, he will miss his longtime friend and coach, Red Auerbach.