The tweet, honored Auerbach for being the first NBA coach to draft a African-American player and play an all African-American starting lineup.
BOSTON — The Boston Police Department received loads of criticism Monday after a tweet sent out late Sunday night celebrating Black History Month honored former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, a white man.
The original tweet, which has since been deleted honored Auerbach for being the first NBA coach to draft a African-American player, play an all African-American starting lineup and fire the league’s first African-American head coach.
Twitter users immediately began criticizing the tweet calling it “tone-deaf” and “clueless” according to the Associated Press. The tweet was deleted less than an hour after it was tweeted and an apology was posted shortly after.
BPD realizes that an earlier tweet may have offended some and we apologize for that. Our intentions were never to offend. It has been taken down.
The department replaced the tweet about Auerbach with one honoring Celtics legend Bill Russell.
#ICYMI: In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth we pay tribute to Bill Russell, one of the greatest @celtics of all time and the first African-American head coach in the history of the NBA when he was named @celtics coach on November 15,1966. pic.twitter.com/gKX7zpcUQt
