"[66], In the 195859 NBA season, Russell averaged 16.7 points per game and 23.0 rebounds per game. [Auerbach would] get the information from us and then make a decision based on that information and his thoughts. "[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. After USF kept Holy Cross Crusaders star Tom Heinsohn scoreless in an entire half,[31] Sports Illustrated wrote: "If [Russell] ever learns to hit the basket, they're going to have to rewrite the rules. A cause of death wasnt given, nor did a family statement say where he died. 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. The Celtics managed a 108-89 victory and swept the Nationals in three games. [5] Russell was elected to one NBA All-Defensive First Team. [158] Russell ranked No. It was the start of an unprecedented championship run for Russell and the Celtics. [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. In an interview with ESPN, Russell said he wanted the NFL players to know they were not alone.[226]. In 2010 Russell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the countrys highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama. [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. [5] Auerbach's thoughts were unorthodox, as in that period centers and forwards were defined by their offensive output, and their ability to play defense was secondary. Born In: Monroe, Louisiana, United States. He won 11 NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics in 13 seasons. His talent did not immediately shine through. "[50], Duiring the 196869 NBA season, Russell was shocked by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, disillusioned by the Vietnam War, and weary from his increasingly stale marriage to his wife Rose; the couple later divorced. 4 BEAUTIFUL WIVES OF NBA LEGEND BILL RUSSELL RIP And so the Celticsall we looked for was: 'Can he play?' [121] In addition, Russell ran into financial trouble. [21], Under head coach Gerald Tucker, Russell helped the U.S. national basketball team win the gold medal in Melbourne, defeating the Soviet Union national basketball team 8955 in the final game with an 80 undefeated run. In the interim, Russell won an Olympic gold medal in 1956. All Rights Reserved. Brown, who gave him a high $24,000 rookie contract, just $1,000 shy of the top-earning veteran Bob Cousy.[122]. [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. If I looked at it objectively, detached myself, it would be a deficiency. NBA legend and civil rights activist Bill Russell dies at 88 - CNN In these eleven games, Russell averaged 18.3 points and 29.4 rebounds. In 2014, after the unveiling of his statue at City Hall in Boston, Russell spoke a bit about his parents and what his life was like The Celtics won, earning their first NBA championship. [4] Decades later, Russell explained that his experiences hardened him against abuse of all kinds,[35] saying: "I never permitted myself to be a victim. Brown contacted Rochester owner Les Harrison and received an assurance that the Royals could not afford Russell, and they would draft Sihugo Green. [60], At the start of the 195758 NBA season, the Celtics won fourteen straight games and continued to succeed. In overtime, Frank Ramsey, the fourth forward, fouled out trying to guard Baylor, so Russell was robbed of his usual four-men wing rotation; he and little-used fifth forward Gene Guarilia successfully pressured Baylor into missed shots. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! [5] This took place during his last season (1969) and was the first season the NBA All-Defensive Teams were selected. He made a free throw, blocked a shot by Sixers player Chet Walker, grabbed a rebound off a miss by Greer, and passed the ball to teammate Sam Jones, who scored to clinch the win. It was one cold day of 1934 and the month of love when Bill was born. In the beginning of the 1957-58 season, the Celtics won 14 straight games. The couple actually tied the knot on December 9, 1956, with Bill soon making it clear he owed a vast majority of his ambition, compassion, drive, and success to his [71] Boston won a then-record 59 regular-season games, including a then-record tying 17-game win streak. "[167] During the NBA All-Star Weekend on February 14, 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals MVP award would be named after Russell. [53], Due to his Olympic commitment, Russell could not join the Celtics for the 195657 NBA season until December. [50], The Celtics lost Cousy to retirement after the 196263 NBA season, and they drafted John Havlicek and were powered by Russell, who averaged 16.8 points and 23.6 rebounds per game, won his fourth regular-season MVP award, and earned the NBA All-Star Game MVP honors at the 1963 NBA All-Star Game following his 19-point, 24-rebound performance for the Eastern Conference's All-Star team. His 1956 rookie contract was worth $24,000 (equivalent to $239,207 in 2021), only fractionally smaller than the $25,000 of top earner and teammate Bob Cousy. 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. [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. [67] Lakers head coach John Kundla praised Russell, stating: "We don't fear the Celtics without Bill Russell. [184] Russell was married to Jeannine Russell at the time of his death. 1 in NBA history for defensive win shares at 133.6, with Tim Duncan in second at 106.3. [50] After the Celtics' 10889 victory, Schayes, who made Johnny Kerr come off the bench because he struggled against Russell in the regular season, quipped: "How much does that guy make a year? We won the National Championship. Russell played 48 games, averaging 14.7 points per game and a league-high 19.6 rebounds per game. 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. [191], Russell died at his Mercer Island, Washington, home on July 31, 2022, at the age of 88. The Celtics won the match 115-106. [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). That did not happen My junior year in college, I had what I thought was the one of the best college seasons ever. Bill Russell Net Worth The first [NBA organization] to hire a black [head] coach was the Boston Celtics, and they've had at least five [black head-coaches] over the years. Asked by Russell what was wrong, his grandfather replied how proud he was of him, being coach of an organization in which blacks and whites coexisted in harmony. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. He played 48 games with an average of 14.7 points per game and 19.6 rebounds per game. [185][186] He was a resident of Mercer Island, Washington, for over four decades. (2004). [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. Russell was accused of selling out the future of the franchise for a month of his salary. Eleven-time NBA champion and Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell died 'peacefully' at the age of 88, his family confirmed Sunday. "[27] In an autobiographical account, Russell said that while on a California High School All-Stars tour, he became obsessed with studying and memorizing other players' moves, e.g., footwork such as which foot they moved first on which play, as preparation for defending against them, which included practicing in front of a mirror at night. Two years later, the couple welcomed a second son, [222] On November 15, 2019, Russell accepted the Hall of Fame ring in a private ceremony with family. Russell was offered the role of player-coach, which he acceptedmaking him the first African-American NBA coach. [The sound of Russell throwing up] is a welcome sound, too, because it means he's keyed up for the game, and around the locker room we grin and say, 'Man, we're going to be all right tonight. 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. 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 4 in a similar list by The Athletic. [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. [19] Russell's father was once refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers first. [1] Before the January 31, 1963, 18-point, 22-rebound performance in a 128125 win against the Cincinnati Royals at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland,[84] the Celtics were to tour the White House and Russell had a "Do not disturb" sign on his phone. One of the most important moments of his life was when he met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta and took part in the pivotal March on Washington in 1963. "[202], Russell was driven by "a neurotic need to win", as his Celtic teammate Tom Heinsohn observed. In Game 2, Philadelphia evened the series with a 115106 win and then went on to win Games 3 and 4. 6 in ESPN's NBA 75th Anniversary Team list,[164] and No. His early childhood was shaped by poor health, as the sickly Russell battled several different illnesses. This was the first time in seven years that he failed to average at least 23 rebounds a game. On August 11, 2022, the NBA announced the retirement of Russell's No. [169] In October 2021, Russell was honored as one of theleague's 75 greatest players of all-time. [60] Despite their different ethnic backgrounds and lack of common off-court interests, his relationship with Cousy was amicable. [111] Russell notified Auerbach that he was resigning to join a career in television and movies "in order to find new sources of income for the future". The Bill Russell Legacy Foundation, established by the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, funded the project. Jones treated like 'Rock' stars at Alcatraz", "Bill Russell, Who Transformed Pro Basketball, Dies at 88", "Bill Russell Receives Arthur Ashe Courage Award At ESPYS", "Watch Bill Russell be inducted into Hall of Fame as a coach", "Bill Russell's No. [225], On September 26, 2017, Russell posted a photograph of himself to a previously unused Twitter account in which he was taking the knee in solidarity with the U.S. national anthem kneeling protests. Both Cousy and Russell called it the greatest Celtics team of all-time. Their 4834 record was the team's worst since the 195556 NBA season and they entered the 1969 NBA playoffs as the fourth-seeded team in the East. [174] The statue was unveiled on November 1, 2013, with Russell in attendance. [20], At USF, Russell became the new starting center for coach Phil Woolpert of the San Francisco Dons. In California, life for the Russell family proved rough. [141] Russell and Bryant were spectators to a basketball game for Obama's 50th birthday at the White House tennis court. [118] He finished with a 341290 regular season record and was 3427 in the playoffs. "[5] The Sixers outpaced the Celtics when they shredded the famed Boston defense by scoring 140 points in the clinching Game 5 win. [5][97], In the 196566 NBA season, Russell contributed 12.9 points and 22.8 rebounds per game. [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. The game featured Shane Battier, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Maya Moore, Alonzo Mourning, Joakim Noah, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, and Obama's friends from high school. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career. [29] When DeJulio offered Russell a scholarship, he eagerly accepted. August 1, 2022 NBA reacts to death of iconic Bill Russell 18 on ESPN's "50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century" list in 1999. In California, life for the Russell family proved rocky. [132] On June 18, 2007, Russell was inducted as a member of the founding class of the FIBA Hall of Fame. Bill Russell He wrote these words after recounting how grandfather Jake Russell had stood up to the Ku Klux Klan and other whites who attempted to thwart his efforts to build a schoolhouse for black children; his grandfather was the first person in Russell's patrilineal line born free in North America and was himself illiterate. Nothing went on outside the borders of the court. Over the next several decades he periodically came back to the game as a coach or as an executive, but his teams failed to win with the kind of regularity he enjoyed as a player. Bill Russell He was a standout in the high jump and according to Track & Field News was ranked the seventh-best high-jumper in the world in 1956, his graduation year, despite not competing in Olympic high-jump competition. To coach the Celtics, he had initially wanted his old player Frank Ramsey, who was too occupied running his three lucrative nursing homes. He was one of five, along with James Naismith, Oscar Robertson, Dean Smith, and John Wooden, selected to represent the inaugural class. [1] The NBA reasoned that other centers were better all-round players than Russell but no player was more valuable to his team. One of his highest jumps occurred at the WCR, where he achieved a mark of .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}6feet 9+14inches (2.06m);[43] at the meet, Russell tied Charlie Dumas, who would later in the year win gold in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia for the United States and become the first person to high-jump 7 feet (2.13m). After the next provocation, Russell pounded Felix to the point of unconsciousness, paid a modest $25 fine, and rarely was the target of cheap fouls thereafter. [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. [50] Bill Simmons has estimated that Russell had between 8 and 15 blocks per game in the playoffs. [38] He became known for his strong defense and shot-blocking skills, once denying 13 shots in a game. [57] Russell's defense was called into question by Eddie Gottlieb, coach of the Philadelphia Warriors, after the WarriorsCeltics game on January 1, 1957, in which he recorded 17 points and 25 rebounds, plus an assist. [1] On March 11, 1965, in a 112100 win over the Detroit Pistons, Russell grabbed 49 rebounds, which tied for the third-most in a single game in NBA history,[93] along with 27 points and 6 assists. Bill Russell was born on 12 February 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. The block preserved Boston's slim 103102 lead with 40-odd seconds left to play in regulation, saving the game for the Celtics. Bill Russell: Death, Career, Retirement & Controversy - Players Bio Constantly provoked by New York Knicks center Ray Felix during a game, he complained to coach Auerbach, who told him to take matters into his own hands. [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. "[110] This supported the opinion of many white fans that Russell, who was by then the highest-paid Celtic, was egotistical, paranoid, and hypocritical. Auerbach agreed to trade Macauley, who had previously asked to be traded to St. Louis in order to be with his sick son, if the Hawks gave up Russell. Russell said he was "proud of my grandfather's heroic dignity against forces more powerful than him he would not allow himself to be oppressed or intimidated by anyone." While Charlie found good work, in 1946 his wife, Katie, became quite sick with the flu and died. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. The couple grew emotionally distant and divorced. He still holds the NBA record for rebounds in one half with 32 (vs. Philadelphia, November 16, 1957). Bill Russell averaged 16.9 points and 23.9 rebounds per game in the 1960-61 season leading his team to 57-22 record. Russell was married three times. Even as he won on the court, Russell, an outspoken backer of the Civil Rights Movement, experienced his struggles off of it. Russell was grief-stricken by the death of his mother, whod been his biggest advocate and pushed him to work hard in school. [181] In 1977, he married Dorothy Anstett, Miss USA of 1968;[181] they divorced in 1980. Although Russell was a good runner and jumper and had large hands,[20] he did not understand the game and was cut from the team at Herbert Hoover Junior High School. [1] While his rival had a record-breaking season of 50.4 points per game, including Chamberlain's 100-point game,[68] the Celtics became the first team to win 60 games in a season and Russell was voted as the league's MVP. He worked hard and used the benefits of a growth spurt to become a decent basketball player. Five times he was named the NBAs Most Valuable Player, and his 21,620 rebounds are second only to Chamberlains career mark. [50] Despite this, the Celtics were leading only 9795 with 34 seconds left when Russell closed out the game with several consecutive clutch plays. Bill Russell [122] Perennially wary of what he long perceived as a racist city, Russell decided to make amends and gave his approval. [210] He was livid with Russell and saw him as a backstabber. It covered every area. [14] In 2011, Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments on the court and in the civil rights movement. Even as he won on the court, Russell, an outspoken backer of At the age of 9 he moved to Oakland. "[30] The NCAA rewrote rules in response to Russell's dominant play; the lane was widened for his junior year. "[50], In the 195960 NBA season, the NBA witnessed the debut of 7ft 1in (2.16m) Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged a record 37.6 points per game in his rookie year.
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