[18], Bill Russell was born on February 12, 1934, to Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. His father was Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. "[102] The game still ended on a high note for Russell. [5] Russell's team again beat Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers 41 in the Eastern Division Finals, proceeding to win the NBA Finals in a tight showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers, with Russell scoring 25 points and grabbing 32 rebounds, plus giving out an assist,[98] in a 9593 win in Game 7. [105] He is one of four players (along with Cousy, George Mikan, and Bob Pettit) to have made all four NBA anniversary teams: the NBA 25th Anniversary Team (1970), the NBA 35th Anniversary Team (1980), the NBA 50th Anniversary Team (1996),[5] and the NBA 75th Anniversary Team (2021). [151] He also had 51 in one game, 49 in two others, and twelve straight seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. [26], Russell soon became noted for his unusual style of defense. His coach, George Powles, encouraged the youngster to develop his skills and become a good player. In an interview with ESPN, Russell said he wanted the NFL players to know they were not alone.[226]. [104], In Game 7, 15,202 Philadelphia fans witnessed a home-team 10096 defeat, making it the first time in NBA history a team lost a series after leading 31. [108] The teams split the next two games and it all came down to Game 7 in Los Angeles, where Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke angered and motivated the Celtics by putting "proceedings of Lakers victory ceremony" on the game leaflets. [61], The Celtics finished the 195657 regular season with a 4428 record, the team's second-best record since beginning play in the 194647 BAA season, which guaranteed Russell his first NBA playoffs appearance,[62] where the Celtics met with the Syracuse Nationals, a team led by Dolph Schayes, through the Eastern Division Finals. [137] He was named as a 2010 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. [198], In 1966, The New York Times wrote that "Russell's main characteristics are pride, intelligence, an active and appreciative sense of humor, a preoccupation with dignity, a capacity for consideration once his friendship or sympathy has been aroused, and an unwillingness to compromise whatever truths he has accepted. [72][73] In the 1960 NBA Finals, the Celtics outlasted the Hawks 43 in the series and won their third championship in four years. This was the first time in seven years that he failed to average at least 23 rebounds a game. [50] On offense, Russell's output was limited and his NBA career personal averages show him to be an average scorer (15.1 points career average), a poor free-throw shooter (56.1%), and average overall shooter from the field (44%, not exceptional for a center). He was offered a scholarship from the University of San Francisco (USF). Equally skilled at grabbing rebounds, he was just one of the only two players to have made more than 50 rebounds in a single game and had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. My wife and Russell's laugh. Schayes, who had become the 76ers coach, said: "The Celtics can thank the Good Lord for Bill Russell. Bill Russell was a once-in-a-generation activist athlete who made all around him better. Bill Russellwas born to Charles and Katie Russell on February 12, 2022, inWest Monroe, Louisiana. Bill Russell Family Tree : Parents, Wife, Children, Biography He was played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Bill Russell's selection to the Basketball Hall of Fame for his coaching career was announced on May 16, 2021. He reasoned that if Saperstein was too smart to speak with him, then he was too smart to play for Saperstein. As the teams split the first six games, the tension was so high that in Game 3 Celtics coach Auerbach punched his colleague Ben Kerner and received a $300 fine. Bill Russell married his college sweetheart Rose Swisher in 1956. Bill Russell was born on January 10, 1935, and died at age 61 years old on March 9, 1996. Russell later called it the best team of his era and the best defense of all time. He is said to have made a conscious decision to put the team first and foremost, and not worry about individual achievements. [68] On November 7, 1959, Russell's Celtics hosted Chamberlain's Warriors and pundits called the matchup between the best offensive and defensive centers "The Big Collision" and "Battle of the Titans". He was famous for his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense which led his team to many victories in major tournaments. [45][46][47] He also competed in the 440 yards (402.3m) race, which he could complete in 49.6 seconds. When the NBA All-Stars toured the U.S. in the 1958 offseason, white hotel owners in segregated North Carolina denied rooms to Russell and his black teammates, causing him to later write in his 1966 memoir Go Up for Glory: "It stood out, a wall which understanding cannot penetrate. [5][41] His stint as coach of the Celtics was also of historical significance,[147][148] as he became the first black head coach in the NBA,[14] when he succeeded Red Auerbach. He later said: "The most successful television is done in eight-second thoughts, and the things I know about basketball, motivation, and people go deeper than that. [34] In one incident, hotels in Oklahoma City refused to admit Russell and his black teammates while they were in town for the 1954 All-College Tournament. DeJulio was unimpressed by Russell's meager scoring and "atrocious fundamentals",[29] but he sensed that the young Russell had an extraordinary instinct for the game, especially in the clutch. I averaged over 20 points and over 20 rebounds, and I was the only guy in college blocking shots. But there's another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that's the type Russell was. [126], Russell made few public appearances in the early 1990s, living as a near-recluse on Mercer Island, Washington, near Seattle. As Chamberlain was often defended by Celtics backup center Wayne Embry, the press speculated that Russell was worn down. "[50], The Celtics swept the Nationals in three games to earn the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance in the 1957 NBA Finals,[63] where they met the St. Louis Hawks, led by Pettit and former Celtic Ed Macauley. He was just the second player to have ever made 51 rebounds in a single game and the first NBA player to average more than 20 rebounds per game for an entire season. "[5] The Sixers outpaced the Celtics when they shredded the famed Boston defense by scoring 140 points in the clinching Game 5 win. The Celtics were already a high-scoring team but the addition of Russell added to their strengths. [51], The St. Louis Hawks, who owned the second pick, drafted Russell but were vying for Celtics center Ed Macauley, a six-time NBA All-Star who had roots in St. Louis. [29] When DeJulio offered Russell a scholarship, he eagerly accepted. [2] Russell and Henri Richard of the National Hockey League are tied for the record of the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his rookie year, he was made the captain of the U.S. national basketball team that competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics. As a freshman at McClymonds High School in Oakland,[23][24] Russell was almost cut again;[25] as he saw Russell's raw athletic potential, coach George Powles encouraged him to work on his fundamentals. While Charlie found good work, in 1946 his wife, Katie, became quite sick with the flu and died. I was the MVP at the Final Four. "[208] To teammates and friends, Russell was open and amicable; he was extremely distrusting and cold towards anyone else. After The block preserved Boston's slim 103102 lead with 40-odd seconds left to play in regulation, saving the game for the Celtics. [85] President John F. Kennedy posed for a picture with Auerbach and the nine Celtics but not Russell, who overslept because he thought it was just a tour of the White House and did not know President Kennedy would be meeting them. He scored 15.0 ppg and 24.7 rebounds per game during the 1963-64 season. [112], In 1971, Russell joined NBA on ABC to do commentary on the Game of the Week. This was in contrast to other Celtics who had to work during the offseason to maintain their standard of living; Tom Heinsohn sold insurance, Gene Guarilia was a professional guitar player, Cousy ran a basketball camp, and Red Auerbach invested in plastics and a Chinese restaurant. "[66], In the 195859 NBA season, Russell averaged 16.7 points per game and 23.0 rebounds per game. [19] Russell's father was once refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers first. [5] He was also known as a fine passer and pick-and-roll setter, featured a decent left-handed hook shot, and finished strong on alley oops. Following Chamberlain's death in October 1999, Russell returned to prominence at the turn of the millennium. [50] After the game, Russell went over to the distraught West, who had scored 42 points and was named the only NBA Finals MVP in history from the losing team, clasped his hand and tried to soothe him. [158] Russell ranked No. The teams split the first six games. He grew up in a racially segregated neighbourhood where his family was often subjected to rampant acts of racism. During a press conference, Russell was asked: "As the first Negro head coach in a major league sport, can you do the job impartially without any racial prejudice in reverse?" [51] He had the option to skip the tournament and play a full season for the Celtics, but he was determined to play in the Olympics. Russell, who had a difficult relationship with the media, did not attend either ceremony. [50] He ranks No. [66] Many observers thought that Boston could have won had Russell not been injured, but Auerbach commented: "You can always look for excuses We just got beat. And what we would do is[Auerbach] trusted all his playersso like when he'd make a coaching decision, he could talk: he talked to [Bob] Cousey [who is white], he talked to me [black], he talked to [Bill] Sharman [white], he talked to Sam [Jones] [black]all of us: 'What do you think?' [108] Russell then reversed himself and ordered his team to double-team West and Boston won Game 3. Five times he was named the NBAs Most Valuable Player, and his 21,620 rebounds are second only to Chamberlains career mark. Their marriage was short-lived as they divorced in 1980. [122], Russell became a vegetarian, took up golf, and worked as a color commentator for CBS and TBS throughout the 1970s into the mid-1980s, but he was uncomfortable as a broadcaster. [17] Shortly after his death in 2022, the NBA retired Russell's #6 jersey league-wide, making him the only player in NBA history to receive the honor. Considered one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, William Felton Russell was born on February 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana. Gottlieb stated: "Our Paul Arizin went underneath for a simple backboard lay-up, and as the ball traveled down towards the basket, Russell batted it away. Bill Russell started playing for the Celtics in the 1956-57 season in December. [30] Woolpert's choice of how to deploy his players was unaffected by their skin color. [39][40] During his college career, Russell was the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1955, averaging 20.7 points per game and 20.3 rebounds per game. [20] Russell stated that his father became his childhood hero, later followed up by Minneapolis Lakers superstar George Mikan, whom he met when he was in high school. [1] The 195657 Boston Celtics season saw the debut of a starting lineup made up of five future Hall-of-Famers: center Russell, forwards Heinsohn and Frank Ramsey, and guards Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy. He won five regular season MVP awards and was selected three times to the all-NBA First Teams. He told her to go home and remove the dress, which he described as "white woman's clothing". I could always be myself with them and they were always there for me. Russell, who was sensitive to any racial prejudice, was enraged by the fact that owner Abe Saperstein would only discuss the matter with Woolpert. [14] In 2011, Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments on the court and in the civil rights movement. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996,[5] one of only four players to receive all three honors, and selected into the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. Russell scored 15.0 points per game and grabbed a career-high 24.7 rebounds per game, leading the NBA in rebounds for the first time since Chamberlain entered the league. [110] In response, Russell described Boston as a "flea market of racism". "[214] Describing the Celtics organization, as distinguished from Boston sports fans in the 1950s and 1960s, as very progressive racially, Russell recalled in 2010 a list of the organization's accomplishments on racial progress both in terms of objective milestones and his own subjective experience as a member of the organization. He kept up his excellent performance during the 1964-65 season too when he helped the Celtics win a league-record of 62 games. [28], Russell was ignored by college recruiters and received not one offer until recruiter Hal DeJulio from the University of San Francisco (USF) watched him play in a high school game. [110] According to Taylor, Russell discounted the fact that his career was facilitated by white people who were proven anti-racists: his high school coach George Powles, who encouraged him to play basketball, his college coach Phil Woolpert, who integrated USF basketball, Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who made him the first black NBA coach and is regarded as an anti-racist pioneer for his no color barrier, and Celtics owner Walter A. "[30] The NCAA rewrote rules in response to Russell's dominant play; the lane was widened for his junior year. (embedded photo)", "Rare Photos of Bill Russell (third photo in gallery", "Eight players who have won NCAA, NBA, and Olympic titles", "2003 draft eventually may be best in history", "Philadelphia Warriors vs Boston Celtics Box Score, January 1, 1957", "Russell of Celtics Violates N.B.A. It wasnt long before the defensively adept Russell proved to be dominating presence, with a scorers touch and uncanny ability to rebound. Russel died on July 31, 2022. [4] In his USF years, Russell took advantage of his relative lack of bulk to develop a unique defensive style: instead of purely guarding the opposing center, he used his quickness and speed to play help defense against opposing forwards and aggressively challenge their shots. [217] He was quoted as saying: "From my very first year I thought of myself as playing for the Celtics, not for Boston. That did not happen My junior year in college, I had what I thought was the one of the best college seasons ever. [138] Russell attended Game 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals to present Bryant the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award. [155] He was selected three times to the All-NBA First Teams (1959, 1963, 1965) and eight Second Teams (1958, 196062, 1964, 196668), and was a 12-time NBA All-Star (19581969). In 2009, the NBA renamed the NBA Finals MVP Award in his honor. It's all over! [87] The Celtics reached the 1963 NBA Finals,[88] where they again defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, this time in six games. [224] He thanked Chamberlain for taking him to the limit and "making [him] a better player", and the crowd for "allowing [him] to be a part of their lives. [37], On the hardwood, Russell's experiences were far more pleasant. Russell's father was once refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers first. [60], At the start of the 195758 NBA season, the Celtics won fourteen straight games and continued to succeed. As part of the 1961 Celtics boycott, he and the other black teammates refused to play in the exhibition game and flew home, drawing a great deal of controversy and publicity. Bill Russell has been married on 4 different occasions but had never kept a marriage for up to 2 decades, the longest being 17 years (19561973) to a lady called The Internal Revenue Service discovered that Russell owed $34,430 in tax money and put a lien on his house. And so the guy that owned the Celtics [Walter Brown] was [in addition to Auerbach for whom Russell expressed 'respect' and 'actual love'] another one of the fine, good, and decent human beings that I've ever encountered. He was the son of Katie and Charles Russell. Both Cousy and Russell called it the greatest Celtics team of all-time. Charles Russell was initially a janitor in a paper factory, and when World War II broke out, he became a truck driver. He was married four times and had three children. He was born and brought up in a super-rich-class Catholic [113] His No. He was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. Russell also had seven regular-season games with 40 or more rebounds, the NBA Finals record for highest rebound per game average (29.5, 1959) and by a rookie (22.9, 1957). [57] This skill allowed the other Celtics to play their men aggressively; if they were beaten, they knew that Russell was guarding the basket. When he attempted to leave and find a different station, the attendant stuck a shotgun in his face and thre While in Oakland he was very poor but became a When I started to jump to make defensive plays and to block shots, I was initially corrected, but I stuck with it, and it paid off. [1] The NBA reasoned that other centers were better all-round players than Russell but no player was more valuable to his team. And so the Celticsall we looked for was: 'Can he play?' In its announcement, the WCC stated: "The 'Russell Rule' requires each member institution to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coach position in the athletic department. Heinsohn felt that Russell resented him because the former was named the 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year. When Russell was 10, his father, Charlie, fed up with trying to navigate a racially charged South, moved his family across the country to Oakland, California, where he found work at a shipyard. [18][170] However, the NBA players who currently wore the number 6 jersey are grandfatheredthey may keep the number until they voluntarily change it or retirebut the number will not be issued again to a new player. [125] In 1985, former Celtic teammate Don Chaney, who was head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, asked Russell to tutor Benoit Benjamin, the third overall draft pick from Creighton University, who left after his junior season; according to Chaney, Russell did not get paid for it. [168] On June 15, 2017, Russell was announced as the inaugural recipient of the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award. [1] Boston defeated the Cincinnati Royals 41 to earn another NBA Finals appearance and then won against Chamberlain's newly relocated San Francisco Warriors 41. [Auerbach would] get the information from us and then make a decision based on that information and his thoughts. William Felton Russell was an American professional basketball player. Bill Russell, one of the most important and accomplished athletes in history, died on Sunday at the age of 88 with his wife Jeannine by his side, his family announced. [19] In another incident, Russell's mother was walking outside in a fancy dress when a white policeman accosted her. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. [51], Before his NBA rookie year, Russell was the captain of the 1956 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team that competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, which was held in November and December in Melbourne, Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere. You are a Negro. [25] Sports journalist John Taylor described it as a watershed event in Russell's life because he realized that basketball was his chance to escape poverty and racism, and he swore to make the best of it. ", "Bill Russell, K.C. In the fall of 1952, he tried out as a walk-on at the University of San Francisco and earned a scholarship. [200][201] Russell's motto became: "If you disrespect that line, you disrespect me. "[50] That playoff series ended in a dramatic Game 7, when the Sixers were trailing 110109 five seconds before the end, but Russell turned over the ball. [57] Russell never had to work part-time. He was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2011 for his accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement, both on and off the court. 6 in ESPN's NBA 75th Anniversary Team list,[164] and No. He thrived at the USF under Coach Phil Woolpert who helped him develop his unique technique of defense. [144][157] Russell is universally seen as one of the best NBA players ever,[5] and he was declared "Greatest Player in the History of the NBA" by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America in 1980. [38] Russell led the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game for the competition. [30], Combining the stature and shot-blocking skills of a center with the foot speed of a guard, Russell became the centerpiece of a USF team that soon became a force in college basketball. The teams coach, Red Auerbach, coveted Russell as the missing piece to what he believed could be a championship roster. BILL Russell's wife has shared a sweet picture of the couple after his passing this weekend aged 88. NBA Legend Bill Russell Biography, Age, Height, Family, Wife [111] Although White became a standout Celtics player, Boston lacked an All-Star center, went 3448 in the 196970 NBA season, and failed to make it to the 1970 NBA playoffs, marking the first time since 1950 that they did not make the playoffs. [123] Russell also wrote books, usually written as a joint project with a professional writer, including 1979's Second Wind,[124] and played Judge Roger Ferguson in the Miami Vice episode "The Fix" (aired March 7, 1986). "[36], Racism shaped his lifelong paradigm as a team player, about which Russell said: "At that time it was never acceptable that a black player was the best. Outside the classroom, Russell began playing basketball. Regarded as one of the best ever players in the history of National Basketball Association (NBA), William Felton Bill Russell is a retired professional basketball player who was the centerpiece of the Bostons Celtics dynasty for a period of 13 years. He was very famous for his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense which led his team to many victories in major tournaments. He ended his playing career at the age of 35. [78], In the 1962 NBA Finals, the Celtics met the Los Angeles Lakers of forward Elgin Baylor and guard Jerry West.