Red Auerbach listed the 12 players he’d most want for the playoffs

https://sports.yahoo.com/red-auerbach-listed-12-players-025355023.html



Red Auerbach listed the 12 players he’d most want for the playoffs



Justin Quinn
Sat, February 13, 2021, 7:53 PM·2 min read






Legendary Boston Celtics team president Red Auerbach was once asked by iconic Sports Illustrated reporter Jack McCallum to name the 10 players he would most like to have playing for his team in the playoffs, era and NBA contracts not under consideration.

The outspoken Auerbach refused to limit himself to just ten, instead opting for a dozen, with the explanation given that “look, I had 12 players when I coached. The hell with 10.” Supposedly in no particular order in an obscure 1992 Sports Illustrated Almanac and Record Book list of Red shared with McCallum that caught our eye courtesy of Twitter user Kateforthree.’


12 - Karl Malone


AFP PHOTO/JOHN MOTTERN

"The thing that sets him apart from Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor is that he runs the floor like a big guard."


11 - Charles Barkley


AP Photo/Amy Sancetta

"He does what he has to, whether it's outside, inside, rebounding or scoring. A winner."


10 - Julius Irving


Ted Gartland/Boston Globe

"With one move he could raise a team and destroy an opponent."


9 - Oscar Robertson


Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

"Like Bird, he did so much. He could rebound, shoot, play defense, and he was strong-willed."


8 - Jerry West


Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports

"A very underrated defensive player. And a pressure performer."


7 - Bob Cousy


Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports

"When you're in the running game, you have to have Cousy. Next to Magic, the best ever on the break.


6 - Michael Jordan


Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

"He's just everywhere. He could do everything."


5 - John Havlicek


John Havlicek Boston Celtics
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

"The ultimate professional. Superb condition, superb attitude, superb defender, superb versatility."


4 - Magic Johnson


MPS-USA TODAY Sports

"The most potent point guard ever."


3 - Larry Bird


Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

"Plays all parts of the game better than anyone who ever lived."


2 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar


Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

"Perhaps the single most potent offensive weapon ever. A durable player, a clutch player."


1 - Bill Russell


Charles Hoff/NY Daily News via Getty Images

"The most influential player of his era, maybe of all time. By innovating the art of shot-blocking, he totally dictated tempo."


Bob
MY NOTE:  An impressive number of Lakers on this list.


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To this day I’ve never seen a forward run the floor as fast as Karl Malone, he ran it better than most guards and wings.

cowens/oldschool wrote:To this day I’ve never seen a forward run the floor as fast as Karl Malone, he ran it better than most guards and wings.

Cow,

Better than Bernard King?!

Another thing about The Mailman was that he was built like a Greek God. He had muscles on top of muscles. 6'8"-6'9", 260# and elbows that came straight out on his turnarounds. You did not want to be on the receiving end of them.


Bob


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bobheckler wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:To this day I’ve never seen a forward run the floor as fast as Karl Malone, he ran it better than most guards and wings.

Cow,

Better than Bernard King?!

Another thing about The Mailman was that he was built like a Greek God.  He had muscles on top of muscles.  6'8"-6'9", 260# and elbows that came straight out on his turnarounds.  You did not want to be on the receiving end of them.


Bob


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Oh right good call, before his injury his post up and running the floor was best in the L. I remember guys getting out of the way for Malone or getting run over like a freight train.