After winning nine championships as head coach of the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach is widely regarded as one of the greatest bench bosses of all time.
Auerbach also had an eye for talent, winning seven titles as a team executive. His ability to seek out great players continued into his 70s, as the late Celtics legend was considering picking Kobe Bryant in the 1996 NBA Draft, ESPN's Baxter Holmes reports.
"I think this kid is going to be a hell of a player," Auerbach reportedly told M.L. Carr, then Boston's executive vice president/director of basketball operations, before the draft. "But it can go either way. He seems to be solid, but he's a high school kid. You've got to make a choice based on what you need today. But I think he's a hell of a player."
Boston ended up drafting Antoine Walker, a 6-foot-9 power forward who appeared in three All-Star Games and won a title in 2006, with the sixth pick.
Bryant eventually went 13th to the Charlotte Hornets, later getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers the following month for Vlade Divac.
