Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend

One of the best books I’ve ever read on coaching and friendship

I originally had mixed emotions about this book and would have rated it lower if i had written the review prior to the excellent ending. In summation, this is a very short, fast read where Bill Russell describes his unique relationship and total understanding between two friends who can be so close while communicating so little. But this book needs a better set-up than a book of friendship and Russell supplies that here. He describes his history as a black man and traces his influence to his widowed father who raised him with the ultimate in high standards of integrity. But remember this is also a black player entering sports shortly after Jackie Robinson. Russell had had poor relationships with previous coaches and had been subjected to 1950s racism such as being unable to dine or sleep with the white members of the team in the south. Not mentioned in great detail are the stories of racism when Bill Russell bought a home in Boston and the racism he faced. There is quite a humorous story of trash can noise which police said was racoon caused. Then Russell requested a gun permit. End of noise.But to complete the back story for this book you must know that in addition to be an exceptional athlete, Russell was an incredibly intelligent and private man who even refused autographs to his teammates for their family. With this background Russell describes how he expected another poor relationship with his coach only to find in Red Auerbach a Jewish man who also had suffered racism and was solely focused on winning and treating his players well. Once he knew what was important to Russell, he treated him as an accomplice, always asking his opinion and never disrespecting him.Throughout the book Russell describes the deepening relationships with examples of their unique friendship which in many cases are quite minor and not worthy of a book. BUT, at the end of the book Russell eloquently ties this altogether as he talks of his friends death, their intertwined family, and why the most private man I know would take the time to write a book of arguably the second most important relationship of his life, with his coach and friend, Red Auerbach. This book will appeal to Boston fans, sports fans in general and people interested in interpersonal relationships with only a passing interest in sports.NOTE: While I mentioned racism more than once as it affects the back story of this book, it is not a focus of this book whatsoever other than some early stories in the 50s describing how it impacted parts of their relationship. Please do not let this turn you off this book.

Great story

Bill and Red knew how to be friends. Not much made up drama. Two guys with difference backgrounds figured out what matters.

I loved this book. Written well. Beautiful story about great men

This is a fantastic book about life and friendship. So many wise words coming from a wise man about another wise friend.

A friend of mine told me about this book coming out. I've read the other books by Red and Russell and found them to be good to great. So this one intrigued me but I thought 'what could be different?'Well, lots is different. Yes it is about relationship and just a little about basketball. But what it is really about is friendship, a unique friendship. Russell starts by doing an excellent job of taking you inside the upbringing of a young black kid in the rural south. Raised by a family and an extended family that cared and taught him valuable lessons that he was able to take with him.What he does best is tells us this story without bitching. It is almost like he is detatched. The message comes acrossed powerfully without him having to tell you. It was a tough life. His Mother, who he adored, died when he was 12. His father left the family, with the support of his Mother, to work in Detroit and support the family back in Louisiana.Its quite a journey for an untrusting soul at the time like Russell to end up in Boston befriended mutually with a Jew in Red. Loved the book and the powerful message of where he came from and where he journeyed to and the struggles in between. Well worth reading for the learnings you can glean from this unique friendship.Excellently written.

Bill Russell may be one of the more underrated sports gods in American history. His achievements on the playing field rival anything Babe Ruth, Lance Armstrong or Carl Lewis ever accomplished: Two NCAA championships in three years, one Olympic Gold medal in his only try, and 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons with the Celtics. He is almost certainly the winningest athlete in American history, despite the folks who like to cite Michael Jordan or Kareem Abdul-Jabber.And his post playing career has been noteworthy as well. The man has written some excellent books ("Second Wind", this one) and lived a life seemingly filled with dignity and self respect."Red and Me" is Russell's love letter to his friend and former manager with the Boston Celtics, and should not be missed by both fans of the Celtics or NBA or by those interested in living a quiet, dignified life, as Russell has apparently done.Well worth reading. Recommended.

Great read! A must for all hoop heads.

lovely book. a meditation on the subject of friendship.

四つ打ち主体のSoul、JazzFunk的作品が多い。Beatdown系人脈も参加しており、それっぽい雰囲気はある。しかし、detorit本家のようなDeepでMadな雰囲気はあまりなく、聞きやすくしあげている。Gillesが絶賛とか、moodymannプレイとかなんとか修飾されがちなアーチストだが、割りとオーソドックスなDeepHouse。自らNewJazzとか言っちゃって薄っぺらい音を垂れ流しているどこぞの国の恥ずかしい馬鹿どもよりは、音楽への真摯な愛を感じるね。