Red Got His Guy

Coaching changes are always hard on a team, but when Red Auerbach hired K.C. Jones to be the ninth head coach in franchise history in 1983, Jones had near universal praise from the Celtics players. Kevin McHale said, “I’m really excited about K.C. giving the orders. Everyone has so much confidence in him and his abilities.” Danny Ainge added, “I was hoping this would happen. I think there’s room for a lot of optimism on this team.” As for Jones, he joked about his next move. “My first priority now is to sit down with Red and see what he has in his briefcase. He has all his secrets in there. They don’t call him a genius for nothing,” Jones quipped.