Former Celtics Rival Details How Red Auerbach Spurned Him in the Draft

Red Auerbach opted not to select an eventual loathed playoff rival for Boston.

Unknown Date; Boston, MA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Boston Celtics former head coach Red Auerbach in his office during the mid 1980's. Mandatory Credit: Dick Raphael-Imagn Images / Dick Raphael-Imagn Images

Longtime Boston Celtics rival power forward/center John Salley, most irritating to Boston fans during his Detroit Pistons heyday, revealed during a new appearance on Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller's "The OGs" podcast that he was almost drafted by Celtics legend Red Auerbach in the 1986 NBA Draft.

At the time, Salley was a decorated collegiate prospect out of Georgia Tech, and the reigning champion Celtics had lucked into the No. 2 pick in the draft. After winning nine titles as Boston's head coach, Auerbach had moved into a front office role — where, by that point, he had led the Celtics to another seven championships as an executive.

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"I thought I was going to be a Celtic," Salley conceded. "Red Auerbach had been dealing with me since I was a sophomore in college, Len Bias too. Me, Lenny, Mark Brown, we would go up to Boston and be in this 'basketball camp.' It just had us playing against other vets, 'cause he was like, 'Let me get these guys ready.' And told me he was going to draft me, but he took Lenny [instead]."

Bias, a standout power forward out of Maryland, tragically died of a drug overdose before he could play a single game for Boston.

Meanwhile, Salley was picked with the No. 11 the 6-foot-11 big man fell to No. 11 in the draft, where he was picked up by Detroit. That spring, he was doing battle against the Finals-bound Celtics during a seven-game 1987 Eastern Conference Finals rock fight.

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Perhaps most memorably for Bostonians, Salley, future Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, and original microwave scorer Vinnie Johnson led a backup group that bested the Celtics during the first round of the 1989 playoffs, helping Detroit complete its 3-0 first-round series sweep of Boston with a 100-85 victory.

In a series-high 30 minutes, Salley scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, grabbed six rebounds, blocked one shot, and swiped a steal.

On this day, 1989: With their season on life support, the Celtics played with emotion in game 3, getting out to an early lead. Chuck Daly sent in the bench unit of Vinnie Johnson, Dennis Rodman and John Salley to pull the plug: pic.twitter.com/48cLyXxDNm

— Keith Black Trudeau (@Charlottean28) May 2, 2021

Detroit went on to beat two future Salley championship destinations, the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals proper, en route to securing its first of two consecutive titles.

Salley was flipped to the Miami Heat in 1992. He was subsequently moved to the Toronto Raptors ahead of their first season, 1995-96, in an expansion draft.

Salley quickly negotiated a contract buyout in February of 1996 in an effort to join a contender, and he opted to sign on with one of the best teams of all time, the 72-win Chicago Bulls. He won his third championship next to former Pistons teammate Rodman.

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After three years away from the game (he had also enjoyed a one-month stint with EuroLeague champion club Panathinaikos in the fall of 1996), Salley rejoined his former Bulls coach Phil Jackson and ex-Chicago point guard Ron Harper on the Shaquille O'Neal/Kobe Bryant-era Los Angeles Lakers, for the first of that franchise's three consecutive championships in 1999-2000.

Across 11 NBA seasons with the Pistons, Heat, Raptors, Bulls, and Lakers, mostly as a valuable two-way bench piece, Salley averaged 7.0 points on 50.6 percent shooting from the floor and 71.4 percent shooting from the foul line, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 1.2 assists, and 0.6 steals a night.

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