Arnold “Red” Auerbach was born in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn September 20, 1917. This was a section of the city where many different cultures lived side by side, Italians, Jews, Blacks, and Irish. Growing up there everyone had to learn how to live together during times when outside the neighborhood people were not as equally tolerant. Arnold was the athletic middle brother between Victor the smart hard working one and Zangfeld the naturally smart dry witted one (who later became a cartoonist for the Washington Star). Hyman, Red’s father, came to America when he was twelve with his two brothers. They came from Minsk, Russia. Hyman was a hardworking and street-smart guy who tried to instill both qualities in his boys. When Hyman was growing up in Russia it was a Penny to ride the train to and from school, families were very poor so many people were illiterate. This was not going to be Hyman’s fate, he knew that if he were to better his family he would need to be able to read and write. He was only person in his family to be able to read and write because he was the only one to convince the conductor to let him ride the train for free. Hyman worked extremely hard in the restaurant business for many years until he open a cleaning and drying business. This business is where he would begin to teach his boy about hard work and taking pride in what you do. While growing up Red worked with his father and older brother Victor at the cleaners, his job was to carry the bundles of clothes for people and deliver to their homes.
Red combined the work ethic he learned from his father at the cleaners to his passion for competition and specifically to basketball. He led many of the neighborhood leagues not so much with his talent but with his understanding of the game. It was at an early age that he knew what he wanted to do, teach physical education and coach high school basketball. Seth Low Junior College was to be the first stop in heading towards...