Red Auerbach died at the age of 89 on Saturday night. To be completely honest with you, I'm sad. There are very few people who when they die, you feel like the entire sport is worse, but he's one of them. He's one of those people that though he's only been associated with one team for his entire life, he changed the game. I look at Red Auerbach as the Godfather of the Boston Celtics, much the way I think of David Stern as the Godfather of the entire NBA (can't you tell I love mafia movies?).
After reading Bill Simmons' column today about remembering Red, I thought to myself, "As a Spurs fan, who would I look at as my Red Auerbach?" My first thought was David Robinson because he's spent his entire career with the Spurs and has been, and will continue to be, a huge influence in the San Antonio community. But I decided that it wasn't him, but Gregg Popovich.
Pop has influenced the Spurs in the exact same way that Red did the Celtics. Pop is a great coach, and has coached the Spurs to numerous titles, much like Red coached the Celtics to a record nine NBA titles. Pop is also one of the best front office executives, building contenders not by spending the most money, but by making smart moves and excellent scouting.
It's unfair to try to compare the two people, because Auerbach has had the type of influence that has reached throughout the game, not just the Boston Celtics, whereas Pop is limited to mostly just the Spurs. But nonetheless, I look at Pop much the way any Celtic fan would view Red Auerbach. Rest in peace.
Switching gears a little bit, THE NBA SEASON STARTS TONIGHT! That also means fantasy basketball starts too. Which means I begin my domination of friends and/or family members today.
Here are my quick picks for this season's awards:
Coach of the Year: Jerry Sloan (UTAH)
Sixth Man of the Year: Bobby Jackson (NOK)
Most Improved Player: Darko Milicic (ORL)
Rookie of the Year: Brandon Roy (POR)
Defensive Player of the Year: Bruce Bowen (SA)
Most Valuable Player: LeBron James (CLE)
Enjoy the games everybody.
