Throughout the NBA's history, numerous front-office executives have exhibited assertive personalities. Yet, none have matched the flamboyance and ruthlessness of Red Auerbach . His unparalleled leadership helped the Boston Celtics to 16 championships across various roles - player, head coach, and Team President.
Moreover, Auerbach's unwavering vision and determination to execute his plans were so resolute that he disregarded all external influences. This was exemplified in 1985 when he went to extraordinary lengths to interfere with Bill Walton 's medical examination to ensure he had the former Finals MVP on his roster the next season.
Auerbach's ultimate thug moment
Following the Celtics' loss to archrivals the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1985 NBA Finals, Auerbach recognized the need to improve their bench depth in order to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy again. Walton was also desperately seeking a second chance to revive his career.
Although Big Red had missed three full seasons out of the possible four after winning the Finals MVP and regular season in '77 and '78 and was unable to have a two-way impact on the Clippers, Auerbach foresaw the damage his Celtics could do if Walton operated off the bench behind Robert Parish. As a result, he grew confident in trading Cedric Maxwell for the two-time All-Star before the '85-86 season.
While Auerbach was dead set on acquiring Walton, the latter still had to go through medical examinations. There was no way he would pass the physical, considering his extensive injury history. Though the doctors were certain about it, Red wasn't willing to have no for an answer.
During his appearance on 'The Vertical Podcast,' Walton recalled how Auerbach completely disregarded the presence of doctors and completely hijacked his medical examination to give him a green flag to step on the hardwood.
"He's smoking his cigar in the hospital, and he walks in and says, 'Who are you guys, and what are you doing with my player?' They're saying, 'Red, come here. Look at this. Look at his feet. Look at his face. We can't pass this guy.' Red says, 'Shut up. I'm in charge here.' And Red pushes his way through all the doctors, comes over... Red looks down at me. He says, 'Walton, can you play?' And I looked up at him with the sad, soft eyes of a young man who just wanted one more chance.... I said, 'Red, I think I can. I think I can, Red,'" Walton recalled . "Red, through the smoke, with a big, cherubic grin on his face, looked at the doctors, looked at me, and he said, 'He's fine. He passes. Let's go. We've got a game.'"
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Auerbach knew Walton deserved a second chance
In that chaotic moment, Red looked at Bill and instantly realized that the California native was desperate to get another chance to be part of a championship-caliber team. Though plenty of negatives could have derailed Auerbach's decision, the Celtics President recognized the 'high-risk-high-reward' situation at his disposal.
Ultimately, Auerbach's gamble proved remarkably successful. Given the opportunity, Walton delivered an exceptional performance, securing the Sixth Man of the Year award in the '85-86 season. While his statistical output was modest - averaging 7.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game - he achieved a career-high 56.2% field goal percentage on two-point attempts and averaged 1.3 blocks per game as well.
Not only did his performance vindicate Red's going all out to fight with the doctors to acquire him, but the former 6MOTY remained thankful to the Celtics President for giving him a second chance.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Thank you, Red Auerbach. Thank you, Larry Bird. Thank you, Boston Celtics. Thank you, Celtic nation ," Walton concluded. "What a dream come true."
Related: Danny Ainge shares a story of Bill Walton being obsessed with chess but being at it: "We thought he was a chess genius"
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