Blowin' Smoke

The words are spoken into a familiar haze of cigar smoke. Times may change, but Arnold (Red) Auerbach does not. It is near the start of his 42nd season with the Boston Celtics , the first day of training camp, Oct. 9, at the Gosman Sports & Convocation Center at Brandeis University . He is supposed to be retired but still is listed as the president of the team and still is a day-to-day presence. About a week earlier his 75th birthday was celebrated at a downtown Boston hotel, where most of the players he had either coached or signed returned for a black-tie gala. He is a professional-basketball eminence, a civic treasure.

The civic treasure uses a plastic foam coffee cup for an ashtray. He is sitting in the trainer's room.

Sports Illustrated : Seventy-five. What do you think when you hear that number?

Red Auerbach : it's not a big deal. I don't think about it. I feel pretty good. I work out a couple times a week, sometimes three times. Racquetball. But I can't do the things I used to do. Instead of running or jogging, I walk. Even that bothers me sometimes.

SI: How many cigars do you smoke a day?

RA: I don't know, maybe eight or 10. But I don't smoke them all the way through all the time.

SI: Do the antismokers ever get after you?

RA: Sure. You can't smoke in restaurants, government buildings, a lot of places. You just keep your mouth shut. Once in a while you get mad because people get unreasonable. I can go someplace, the cigar will be not lit, and as soon as I take it out of the wrapper, some people say, "Boy, does that thing stink." You feel like saying, "I don't like the smell of the perfume or the toilet water you've got on, either," but you don't do that. You walk away. When they get obnoxious, though, you feel like belting them.

SI: After all these years, are you surprised by how successful the NBA has become?

RA: I'd say yes, but I kind of predicted that, if you had the proper management, the public would buy pro basketball. [Commissioner] David Stern 's done a great job in marketing the product.