Red Auerbach has been gone since 2006 which is kind of amazing when you think about it, not least of all because he still casts a long shadow over the NBA. He created the model franchise, built dominant teams in three very different eras and understood things about the game that seem simple but are also eternal: Share the ball. Move fast. Trust your teammates. Be loyal.
A lot of his contemporaries couldn’t stand him but he was the most brilliant basketball mind we’ve ever seen.
In this video from 1990, an interviewer [asks him to name his all-time top 12.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7IqJZJIjFE) At first he says “you can’t do it,” but then he sort of does. referring to an earlier interview where he had already done it. Auerbach lists the following players:
* Bill Russell
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
* Julius Erving
* Larry Bird
* Elgin Baylor
* Bob Petit
* John Havlicek
* Bob Cousy
* Magic Johnson
* Michael Jordan
* Oscar Robertson
* Jerry West
He argues that all of these guys could play today, with today being 1990 remember.
The one guy who might struggle would be Bob Cousy, but we’re talking about the Cousy of the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s. He had no left hand but he would today and when you watch video, you see the vision: Cousy made passes like Bird and Magic, things no one else could see. He knew where you were when his back was turned, and where you were going too: it’s a rare gift.
If you’ve never seen Bob Petit, look up some video. That guy was way ahead of his time.
The other thing that intrigues us is that he chose Jabbar over Wilt Chamberlain. We wish the interviewer had asked about that.