Banner Years: 1966, one final victory cigar

NBA history spans 80 seasons, and as CelticsBlog readers well know, the Boston Celtics have won a league-high 18 championships. This month, we are recapping each of those title years.

He was a kid born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., whose parents ran a deli. He went to college in Washington, DC, and continued to live there for the rest of his life. He also wound up spending nearly six decades in Boston as the architect of the greatest basketball franchise of all time. He coached 20 seasons and won more than anyone in the NBA at the time he retired, holding records that still stand. He invented the victory cigar. The Coach of the Year trophy is now named after him. As a team executive, he pulled off legendary trades and led the franchise to endless achievements. Throughout his career he was an influencer on civil rights. And he was associated with winning 16 NBA championships.

Red Auerbach shown in a familiar pose, coaching the Boston Celtics, clutching a rolled up program and smoking a victory cigar on the bench during a game played at the Boston Garden. Copyright 1965 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

Yes, that was the real life that Arnold “Red” Auerbach lived during his 89 years. So, when he decided to step down from coaching and go to the front office full-time after the 1966 playoffs, that got people’s attention.

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Auerbach announced his plans in preseason and literally told his opponents that they had “one last crack at me.”

Red Auerbach coached 20 NBA seasons, the last 16 in Boston. He won 938 regular season games and 99 playoff games. His overall record was 1,037-548, equaling a .654 winning percentage. His eight consecutive titles with the Celtics is an unbreakable record.

The regular season

For the first time in 10 years, Boston did not win the Eastern Division. Their record was 54-26, with uneven results throughout the schedule. Their longest win streak was during the last six games of the season, but the Philadelphia 76ers edged them by one win. Many of the original core were now retired or moved on. And the Sixers were improving.

The Celtics still had…

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Publish date : 2026-08-13 10:00:00

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