'Russell was the type who had doubts about people's intentions,' Stephen Beslic wrote in Basketball Network in 2020, 'and didn't want someone using him for his popularity. He refused to sign autographs, as a way to weed out the 'good' fans. His relationship to those outside the Celtics locker room became chilly. 'He was so taken aback by this honor that was bestowed on him,' Heinsohn said, 'that he broke down, started to cry, and he said that he wished he could live in Reading for the rest of his life.'īut not long after, people broke into Russell's house, destroyed trophies, defecated in his bed and smeared excrement on the walls. In a Boston Globe documentary, former teammate Heinsohn remembered how the Boston suburb of Reading, where Russell lived, held a dinner to honor him. Russell didn't trust some of Boston's white fans who'd cheer the winning but then complain the team had too many Black players. Success, though, couldn't hide a difficult relationship with the city where he played. He was the bridge to all 11 championships, a competitor so fierce he'd often vomit before games. There were great players like Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, K.C. Russell tries to swat away a pass by Fred Crawford of the New York Knicks in 1967.įrom 1957 to 1969, the Celtics won 11 titles, including eight straight. So I went back to playing the way I knew how.' I go back out and I try it, and the guy layups three times in a row. We get in our huddle, and my coach says, 'You can't play defense like that.' He showed me on the sidelines how he wanted me to play defense. So they called timeout to discuss what I was doing. And nobody in the building had seen anything like that. The game starts and the first five shots he took, I blocked. 'Their center was a preseason All-American. 'My first varsity game, we played at Cal Berkeley,' Russell said in the 2013 interview. He was also a track and field high jumper, and it seemed perfectly reasonable to try to elevate in basketball as well.

In the 1950s, his coach at the University of San Francisco believed that. The adage always had been: No good defensive player leaves his feet. Barnett goes in and Russell blocks it.'īy 1963, in this NBA Finals game, Russell was a shot-blocking menace, which represented a sea change in the game. And now Russell has made three big plays in the last three minutes of the game. 'Basically what I was doing,' he said, 'was bringing the vertical game to a game that had been horizontal.' Russell revolutionized basketball with his high-flying defense and prolific shot-blocking.

Russell soars to grab a rebound against the Detroit Pistons in 1961. In a 2013 interview for the Civil Rights History Project, Russell said his mother's message to her teary son changed his life. Instead, Katie Russell said: Fight them, one at a time. He and his mother went looking for the group, and when they found them, young Bill expected mom justice. Five boys ran by and one slapped him in the face. One day when Bill Russell was 9, he was outside his apartment in the projects in Oakland, Calif. To understand this man and superlative athlete, it helps to remember a parent's lesson. And he was a Black athlete who spoke out against racial injustice when it was not as common as it is today. As a five-time league MVP, he changed the game, making shot-blocking a key component on defense. Russell won more NBA titles than any player in history. The announcement was posted on his verified Twitter account. When Auerbach retired he named Russell to take his place, making him the first Black head coach in the NBA.īill Russell, one of basketball's legendary players, has died at age 88. Bill Russell with longtime Boston Celtics head coach Red Auerbach.

Nba on tv today