The situations are different, and so are the times. Notwithstanding the ability the Patriots had in previous years and recently to make him an unrefusable offer, Tom Brady is a free agent.

But it’s fair to say Red Auerbach wouldn’t have let an icon go, and there is evidence to support this contention. The Celtic patriarch made sure Bill Russell stayed happy and on the active roster by making him the coach beginning in 1966-67, and he later said essentially, “Talk to the cigar,” when attractive deals for Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were proposed later in their careers by Indiana and Dallas, respectively.

The Herald uncovered each story, reporting that the Pacers, hoping to bring home a hero that would help legitimize the NBA game in their Bobby Knight-centric state, offered Chuck Person and the No. 2 overall pick in the 1988 draft. But Red wasn’t having it.

Bird suffered an Achilles’ tendon injury and played just six games in 1988-89.

We later quoted a Pacers’ source as saying, “We made our pitch, but I’d have to say now we were fortunate they didn’t accept it.”

The situation with Dallas was halted before the final details could ever be put on the table, but in the late ’80s — most importantly, after McHale had played on a broken foot in the 1987 playoffs — Mavericks sources told the Herald the club offered Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf and two first-round picks for McHale. The Celts would have had to include more to make the salary cap numbers work, but, again, Red said McHale wasn’t going anywhere.

Contacted Tuesday, then-Celtic general manager Jan Volk fired up the wayback machine.

Now, as then, Volk was reticent when it came to discussing details (writer’s note: dammit).

“I will say that we were always in conversation with other teams, and in this particular case, Dallas called and made us a substantive offer that we considered,” he said. “That’s all.”

But the overall Auerbach position was well defined within the walls of the team’s offices and the old Garden.

“That’s how it was with Red,” Volk said. “He used to say, ‘You have to give loyalty to get loyalty.’ The Russells, the Larrys, the Cousys, Red felt it was very important to express to them that, for as long as they wanted to stay, they were welcome.

“That was a very important element of who Red was and how he treated players. Now, there are players that would disagree with this — and I suspect my characterization of it will also be suspect to those in the Gerald Henderson household, for example — but it was important to Red to foster an environment where there was reciprocal loyalty. That was important to him, and it was most evident in instances where the players were, in today’s vernacular, the face of the franchise.”

While the Celtics have had a long and storied history of such faces, Brady stands out so much with the Patriots that his mug is worthy of replacing the one on the flying Elvis logo.

But, as noted, this is a different situation.

“I’m not commenting on the Patriots,” said Volk. “I’m commenting on the Celtics. I don’t want it to be misunderstood that I am suggesting the Patriots do not have an environment of reciprocal loyalty.”

It’s interesting that Danny Ainge was there to watch the Celtics begin their demise because of injuries to Bird and his best buddy, McHale — and, lest we forget, the tragic loss of Len Bias. He told me then and when he took over the Celts’ basketball operation that he never wanted to see a team hang on too long when better options were available. That’s not to say he would ever have traded Bird, but it explains why Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who understood the C’s would be rebuilding, were sent to the Nets in 2013.

“If Red were involved, you probably wouldn’t have gotten the treasure trove of draft picks that came out of the trade with Brooklyn,” said Volk. “That trade wouldn’t have happened with Red. He would probably not have done that.”

As much as Celtic fans were sad to see Pierce and Garnett go, they seemed to understand the realities of the modern hoop world. Auerbach wanted his guys to stay, and while that may have created an issue in the short run, he thought it worked in the larger picture.

“For example, Dennis Johnson was signed for another year when he was not the player he had been,” Volk said. “And Red was explicit about that, that this was an example of loyalty.”

Nowadays players are more cognizant that they’re part of a business — and they wield greater power. LeBron James has pretty much always been his own general manager.

Red’s take was a product of not only his character, but his era.

“It was a warmer, fuzzier universe,” said Volk. “It simply was. And loyalty mattered in ways it no longer does.”