Red Auerbach put together a phenomenal dynasty in Boston, starting in 1956 when he schemed and maneuvered to land Bill Russell. But Russell, as great as he was, couldn’t win titles on his own, and so Auerbach put pieces around him to keep his team winning. Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy were already there, but over time, Auerbach got players to help Russell like KC Jones, Sam Jones, John Havlicek and Tom Sanders.

Widely known as Satch, Sanders, a New York native, attended NYU when it was still a basketball power.

Drafted in 1960 in a draft that included Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Lenny Wilkens, Sanders settled in with the Celtics quickly. He was a very good offensive player with the Violets, but the Celtics asked him to focus on defense, which he did. He won eight rings during his career, which is two more than Michael Jordan got and three more than Magic Johnson.

After his career ended in 1973, Sanders did a number of useful things, including setting up an NBA program to help rookies transition to the league. As Russell says in this video, to lead is to serve and Sanders has never hesitated to serve.

Now 87, along with Cousy, Sanders is one of the last of the Russell-era Celtics. He is universally regarded as a gentleman and one of the best people the league has ever been associated with.