Arnold "Red" Auerbach

Auerbach grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, where football and baseball, he said, were too expensive. At Eastern District High

Arnold "Red" Auerbach

School, he made the All-Brooklyn second team his senior year. After one season at Seth Low Junior College in Brooklyn, Auerbach transferred to George Washington University. Auerbach lettered at GWU for three seasons, then coached in the Washington, D.C., area and served in the U.S. Navy.

Auerbach coached the Washington Capitals of the Basketball Association of America (precursor to the NBA), which began play in 1946. One year later, Auerbach coached in his first NBA championship, the Capitals losing 4 games to 2 to the Minneapolis (now Los Angeles) Lakers. He left Washington after a contract dispute and quit the Tri-Cities Blackhawks after only one season because the owner traded a player without consulting him.