Needham Resident is Celtics' Longest Season Ticket Holder

Harold Furash witnessed every single Boston Celtics home game during the Bill Russell era, including all 11 championship runs in the playoffs.

He was at the Boston Garden during the team's 16 victorious NBA finals appearances prior to the team's 17^th title run in 2008, and he has literally been to thousands of regular season games, at home and on the road, since the team's inaugural season in 1946.

"It was a lifestyle," Furash, a 91-year-old Needham resident, said of his Celtics fandom.

The longest season ticket holder in Celtics history, Furash not only attended games, he refereed the team's scrimmages, spent time in the locker room and even shared the microphone with the late legendary Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most on occasion. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and over time developed close personal relationships with many players, including greats like Russell, who named Furash godfather to his oldest son.

A trusted friend of the Celtics organization, including the team's late coach, general manager and team president, Arnold "Red" Auerbach, Furash has kept the team's secrets to himself. If a conversation ever borders on a player's personal life, he is quick to redirect it back toward the game itself.

"No matter what they told me," he said recently while watching a Celtics summer league game on TV, "it never got into the newspapers."

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A Roxbury native, Furash was a fan of the Celtics when the team began in the Basketball Association of America and played its home games at the Boston Arena, now Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. When the team joined the NBA in 1950 and owner Walter Brown, the team's founder, moved its games to the old Boston Garden, Furash bought 10 season tickets in box 42, one section away from half court.

"The tickets were $2.50 a piece per game," he said.

Furash chose box 42 over box 43, which was directly at half court, because it had an equal number of seats per row, and he and his wife, Margaret, also a fan, always invited other couples to the games.

"I could've picked any seat in the house," Furash said honestly.

In the Celtics new home, the TD Garden, Furash, who moved to Needham in 1966, still has six season tickets to this day.

The same year Furash first purchased his tickets, some 60 years ago, the Celtics acquired a young point guard named Bob Cousy, who would become one of the all-time greats and Furash's good friend, and a new coach in Auerbach.

In the early years, Celtics coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian had allowed Furash to referee the team's scrimmages, but Furash wasn't sure that practice would continue on Auerbach's watch.

"I remember I showed up to referee a Celtics scrimmage and Arnold looked at me sideways, which he would tend to do to people," Furash said of Auerbach, whom he always called by his proper name, "but then Sonny Hertzberg (a Celtics player) vouched for me, and Arnold sort of accepted me. He actually got to rely on me after awhile."

Furash would stop refereeing games when Russell retired in 1969, but his friendship with Auerbach would last until the Hall of Fame coach's death in 2006.

"I had as close as a relationship as you could have to Arnold," he said.

When Furash started his own insurance business in Needham Heights in 1949, Auerbach was one of his first clients. Furash insured Auerbach until his death and many Celtics players along the way, including Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, Don Nelson, Frank Ramsey, Tom "Satch" Sanders and Bill Sharman, all of whom have their numbers retired by the team.

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Cousy started to bring fans to the Garden, but it wasn't until Auerbach drafted Russell, a center from the University of San Francisco, in 1956 that the Celtics became a dynasty, winning 11 championships over the next 13 years.

Furash's favorite game is still the 125-123 double-overtime thriller against Bob Pettit and the St. Louis Hawks in Game 7 of the 1957 NBA Finals to clinch the team's first title. He also still regards Russell as the greatest basketball player of all time.

"I'll consider someone else when they win 11 championships," he said, "even if it takes them more than 13 years."

Bulls guard Michael Jordan, largely regarded as the best ever, won six titles in his NBA career, although Furash believes current Lakers star Kobe Bryant, with his five rings, is a better player than Jordan ever was.

Furash actually met NBA legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor at Russell's home. He said Russell's selflessness on the court and his ability to make those around him better separated him from these other amazing athletes.

"He didn't care if he scored two points or 40 points in a ball game," Furash said. "The only time he scored is when his team needed him to."

He said his all-time Celtics lineup would have Cousy and John Havlicek, the team's all-time leading scorer, in the backcourt, Larry Bird and Dave Cowens, who played center, at the forwards, Russell at center and guard Sam Jones as the team's sixth man.

"I don't go past that," Furash said emphatically, "there are too many great players."

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A product of the Great Depression, Furash's love of basketball was fostered during Saturday leagues at the local Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) years before the NBA came into existence.

"In basketball if you get five players playing together in harmony, helping each other, it's really a beautiful thing," said Furash, who played the game but was never very good. "I love the organization in the game."

In the early years, he and his wife Margaret used to travel to New York City to watch the Celtics play the Knickerbockers at Madison Square Garden. At the time, the team's away games weren't broadcast locally, so, when they didn't make the drive, the couple would drive to the Corey Hills section of Brookline to pick up the New York feed on the radio.

Furash was a presence in the Celtics locker room through the K.C. Jones coached teams of the 1980s. However, when the old Garden was demolished and the new one built in its place, he stopped going to games for the most part, choosing to give away his tickets to friends instead.

"I used to know everyone at the old Garden," he said. "They used to let me in through the press gate. The new building, it's too much of a hassle."

Furash and his wife also winter in Florida now during the bulk of the NBA season, but he still watches games, keeping up with guys like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. He also takes in the summer league games, which showcase the team's young talent.

"I like this Luke Harangody kid," he said of the Celtics recent second round draft pick from Notre Dame while watching a game. "He was a steal at the 52^nd pick. I thought he'd go much higher."

Yes, Furash was not only a Celtics fan, he still is one.

"No matter how many times they won a championship, I always wanted one more," he said. "That's something that will never get away from me."