Over the course of his 13-year NBA career, Russell steered the club to 11 titles. Russells Celtics ruled the roost at a time when the minuscule number of teams (the NBA consisted of eight or nine franchises for the majority of his career) made for a greatly condensed talent pool, and a combination of integration and improved scouting brought on an unprecedented rush of new stars. Universally recognized as one of the most accomplished athletes in professional sports history, NBA legend Bill Russell died Sunday. Official Sites. Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory. William Felton Russell was born on the 12th February 1934 to Mr Charles Russell and Mrs Kutie Russell. Why do you think it is that that part of his life doesn't seem to have gotten the same kind of attention as other athlete activists like the ones that you named, like Jim Brown, like people who - or even, gosh, even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who's thankfully still with us. Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Same thing happened during the seasons second road trip. In the 1961/62 season, Bill Russell recorded his career highest score by an average of 18.9 points and 23.6 rebounds per game; he also scored 30 points and 40 rebounds in the finals helping the Celtics to defeat a rugged Lakers side. She has done a lot of activist work, and her articles can be found in the New York Times Magazine, HuffPost, and many other publications. In 2011, the United States ex-president, President Barack Obama honoured Bill Russell with thePresidential Medal of Freedomin favour of his sporting achievements as well as in thecivil rights movement. WebBill Russell was an American former basketball coach and former professional basketball player who was universally acknowledged as one of the greatest American Before, most players would just reject the blocked shot into the stands. And so, to do this took thought, planning and discretion and intelligence. Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in the history of American sports, died Sunday. He was a five-time NBA MVP, an 11-time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics (twice as a coach), and hes a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a coach and a player. Bill shares all of his three children with his first wife. You know, what - is there something in particular you're hoping people will draw from this film? Who was Bill Russells wife? Or expensive cars with souped-up sound systems so he could blare the music of Laura Nyro, Janis Ian, or Crosby, Stills and Nash some of his favorites. Russell married his first wife Rose in 1956, and the couple had their first child, William Jr., the year after. MVP All-Star Game (1963) after 19 points and 24 rebounds. Somebody had broken in and defecated on the family bed and made - you know, wrote things on the wall and on his garage door. While there is still progress to be made, the Hall of Famer should get a lot of credit for fighting against what was wrong. Thats what I did, Russell said in 2009. Case in point: The apparent invasion of raccoons into Reading, Massachusetts, around 1958. After her marriage to Bill ended, Rose stayed out of the limelight and lived a relatively secluded life. Over the years, Russells approach became the teams overall philosophy as athletic players who saw defense as a means to key the fast break were introduced into the roster. Bob Campbell/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images. He was not ready for the coaching job, and did an all around bad job, sadly enough. POLLARD: Yeah, I hope that they walk away understanding that he was not only a great basketball player, but he was also a great man and a complicated man. He shared all three kids with his first wife Rose Swisher. Bill Russells family announced his demise through a statement on Sunday, July 31. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. A cause of death wasnt given, nor did a family statement say where he died. His autobiography, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man (cowritten with Taylor Branch), was published in 1979. 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. "Here is a Black man from Oakland, surrounded by Black people most of his life," Pollard said. Their marriage lasted until her death in 2009. Even against more physically imposing centers, like .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Wilt Chamberlain, Russell was a defensive and rebounding force. Russell's He won the NCAA in his finals and even earned recognition as a shot-blocker and defensive maestro. The Celtics legend had four wives during his life, and is now the focus of a Netflix documentary called Bill Russell: Legend. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As at 2020, Bill Russell is married to Jeannine Russell and the couple appears frequently together on his Instagram. So how did he deal with it? But by his senior year, his game had picked up enough to earn him a starting spot. A San Diego judge had a defendants 13-year-old daughter handcuffed. Russell did not create the first basketball dynasty, but to date, through Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Bill Russell has one more championship than any other basketball player.Bill Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1934, to Katie and Charlie Louis Russell. That story was part of a THREE-HOUR interview with Bill Russell that is preserved in the Library Of Congress. I mean, you've won so many accolades. I knew about the rivalry between him and Wilt Chamberlain. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: There was a full house in Kiel Auditorium on that night in December 1956. In 1966 Wilt Chamberlain was traded from the Golden State warriors to his new hometown Philadelphia 76ers. The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Russell, Academy of Achievement - Biography of Bill Russell, Bill Russell - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), The great Bill Russell remembered at NBA All-Star weekend. In addition, he was a high-level sprinter and high jumper on USFs track-and-field team (Wilt Chamberlain, his future archrival, also excelled at track and field up until his pro basketball career). MARTIN: Exactly. However, Russell was one of the huge earners in the NBA and didnt have to work part-time so as to maintain his standard of living as it was the case with other NBA players at the time. Its impossible to tell the story of the NBA without also telling the story of Bill Russell. They were together from 1956 to 1973. Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side, his family wrote. During his 13-year NBA career, Russell led the Boston Celtics to 11 championships - two as a player coach. The oldest son of Bill Russell, William Felton Russell Jr, who was named after the 11-time NBA champion, unfortunately passed away in 2016. In 2013, Boston erected a significant statue of their legend, Bill Russell right outside the Boston City Hall Plaza. Bill Russell, a towering figure in the NBA and in American sports history, died at 88 on Sunday, his family announced. It wasnt long before the defensively adept Russell proved to be dominating presence, with a scorers touch and uncanny ability to rebound. The NBA great Bill Russell has died at age 88. I went and told my mother. Russell went to the police, who surmised that raccoons must be the culprits. And so thats the kind of stuff I got from my mother.. His early childhood was shaped by poor health, as the sickly Russell battled several different illnesses. At 18 he went to college, at San Francisco, where he won two NCAA Championships in 1955 and 1956. Auerbachs lineup came out of necessity; he was notoriously indifferent to social causes and the opposing backlash. While Charlie found good work, in 1946 his wife, Katie, became quite sick with the flu and died. He was also involved in several build-ups and could intelligently help the team in tight areas and big games. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. POLLARD: Well, I was approached by Ross Greenberg, who used to be the president of HBO Sports, about two years ago to get involved with the film as a director. William Felton Russell Jr., also known as "Buddha," lost a courageous battle with cancer. He covers an array of topics including NFL, Pop Culture, Fishing News, and the Outdoors. His family said on social media that Russell died on Sunday, July 31, 2022. A the time of his death, he was Well, I was 9 years old, and I did what 9 year olds are supposed to. All 5 of them, 1 at a time. Russell anchored a Boston Celtics Publicity Listings He could care less, you know, about being someone that He would return and defeat the Sixers in 1968, in a hotly contested Conference Final series, and easily defeat the Lakers in the Finals. The 11-time NBA champion is survived by his wife Jeannine and two children. What I ascribed to do, and I did quite well, is every time I came into an adversarial situation, I decided to take control of it so that if a guy came up to me and tried to give me a bad day, I made sure that he was the one who left with the bad day, Russell said. And one of them slapped me as they went by. Attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, Inducted into the ESPN Boston Hall of Fame in 2011 (inaugural class) with. This season every NBA team is wearing the No.6 on the front of their jerseys to honor the great mans legacy. Following his passing on Sunday at 88, tributes poured in fast Updates? The following season, Russell earned the NBA MVP award and helped the Celtics to another NBA final which they lost. 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. Bill Russell is survived by three children: Jacob, William Russell Jr, and Karen. He last led the Sacramento Kings as president of basketball operations in the late 1980s. President Barack Obama at about 6-foot-2, a taller-than-average individual had to stretch a bit when draping the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Russells neck in 2011, even after Russell crouched down to accommodate the moment. 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