Bill Russell

NBA legend Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and the first Black head coach in the league, passed away "peacefully" Sunday, ...

At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps. "The countless accolades that he earned for his storied career with the Boston Celtics -- including a record 11 championships and five MVP awards -- only begin to tell the story of Bill's immense impact on our league and broader society. As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher -- both as a player and as a person. Our thoughts are with his family as we mourn his passing and celebrate his enormous legacy in basketball, Boston, and beyond." "Along the way, Bill earned a string of individual awards that stands unprecedented as it went unmentioned by him. "It is with a very heavy heart we would like to pass along to all of Bill's friends, fans, & followers," the statement reads.

Former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell, part of a legendary team that won 11 NBA championships, as well as the league's first black coach, has died at the ...

Until Russell, the game stayed close to the floor. He was the player-coach on two of those championship teams. He also had what team mate Tom Heinsohn called "a neurotic need to win".

Former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell, one of the sports world's greatest winners as the anchor of a team that won 11 NBA championships, as well as the ...

When the Celtics retired his No. 6, Russell's love of privacy and belief in the team concept led him to demand a private ceremony with coaches and team mates in an otherwise empty arena. In 2011, President Barack Obama cited Russell's dedication to mentoring when he awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which Russell called the second greatest personal honor of his life. Russell became semi-reclusive after his coaching career, saying, "I wanted to be forgotten." It was in Oakland that Russell's career as a winner began. Chamberlain compiled the record-breaking personal statistics but Russell ended up with more championship rings than fingers. Yet the fierce rivals were friends off the court, often dining at each other's homes. He was the player-coach on two of those championship teams. Until Russell, the game stayed close to the floor. Russell averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game for his career. He refused to sign autographs, saying he preferred to have conversations. The Russell-era Celtics teams were rich in talent. He also had what team mate Tom Heinsohn called "a neurotic need to win".

Bill Russell was indomitable on and off the court and one of the most fascinating public figures to straddle sports and civil rights.

In 2013, a statue of Mr. Russell was unveiled at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. He agreed to the monument only after city officials pledged to establish a grant to fund a youth mentoring program. He was coach of the Sacramento Kings in 1987 and vice president of the team’s basketball operations until 1989. Other times, Mr. Russell would block shots multiple times on the same possession, as if he were playing in a one-man game of volleyball. Amid the celebration of his prowess as a player, Mr. Russell also struggled with the festering problems of prejudice and segregation. Mr. Russell was such an intense competitor that he threw up in the locker room before each game. One of his college teammates, K.C. Jones, joined him on the Celtics and had a Hall of Fame career in his own right. It was a turn of events that likely spared his life from the violent streets of the inner city. Mr. Russell described the public housing projects of Oakland as tough and dangerous but paradise compared with Louisiana. He took part in civil rights marches with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. but questioned the nonviolent strategy of the movement, arguing that African Americans had a right to defend themselves. Mr. Russell, who died July 31 at 88, was indomitable on and off the court and one of the most fascinating public figures to straddle sports and civil rights. In his prime, the goateed, broad-shouldered Mr. Russell was 220 pounds of lean muscle stretched over a 6-foot-9 frame. When the Celtics named him head coach in 1966, he became the first Black man to hold that role in a major professional sport in the United States.

A Hall of Famer who led the Celtics to 11 championships, he was “the single most devastating force in the history of the game,” his coach Red Auerbach said.

The event was also a fund-raiser for the National Mentoring Partnership, whose programs he had helped develop as a board member. Russell married for the fourth time, to Jeannine Fiorito, in 2016. The Celtics won N.B.A. titles in Russell’s last two seasons, when he was their player-coach. Fritz Pollard, a star running back, had coached in the National Football League, but that was in the 1920s, when it was a fledgling operation. The Celtics’ streak of eight consecutive titles was snapped in Russell’s first year as coach, but it took one of the N.B.A.’s greatest teams to do it. He found the prospect of yearlong worldwide travel unappealing and wrote how “their specialty is clowning and I had no intention of being billed as a funny guy in a basketball uniform.” He was bruised by the humiliations his family had faced when he was young in segregated Louisiana and by widespread racism in Boston. When he joined the Celtics in 1956, he was their only Black player. At McClymonds High School in Oakland, Russell became a starter on the basketball team as a senior, already emphasizing defense and rebounding. “It was a way for my body to get rid of all excesses.” He went to Mississippi after the civil rights activist Medgar Evers was murdered and worked with Evers’s brother, Charles, to open an integrated basketball camp in Jackson. He was among a group of prominent Black athletes who supported Muhammad Ali when Ali refused induction into the armed forces during the Vietnam War. He finished his career as the No. 2 rebounder in N.B.A. history, behind his longtime rival Wilt Chamberlain, who had three inches on him. Russell’s quickness and his uncanny ability to block shots transformed the center position, once a spot for slow and hulking types.

Basketball Hall of Fame centre Bill Russell passed away peacefully on Sunday at the age of 88.

At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps. "Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. A member of the NBA's 25th, 50th and 75th anniversary teams, Russell also was well known for his commitment to social justice.

Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a dynasty that won 11 titles in 13 years and marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr, died Sunday.

In 2009, the MVP trophy of the NBA finals was named in his honor. “Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever,” Silver added. In 2013, a statue was unveiled on Boston’s City Hall Plaza of Russell surrounded by blocks of granite with quotes on leadership and character. Celtics coach and general manager Red Auerbach so coveted Russell that he worked out a trade with the St Louis Hawks for the second pick in the draft. From my first moment of being alive was the notion that my mother and father loved me.” It was Russell’s mother who would tell him to disregard comments from those who might see him playing in the yard. He was at the March on Washington in 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and he backed Muhammad Ali when the boxer was pilloried for refusing induction into the military draft. The Celtics also picked up Tommy Heinsohn and KC Jones, Russell’s college teammate, in the same draft. At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps,” Silver said. He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players and made possible the success of so many who would follow.” But it was Jackie Robinson who gave Russell a road map for dealing with racism in his sport: “Jackie was a hero to us. Often, that meant Wilt Chamberlain, the only player of the era who was a worthy rival for Russell. A Hall of Famer, five-time Most Valuable Player and 12-time All-Star, Russell in 1980 was voted the greatest player in the NBA history by basketball writers.

The former president cited the basketball great as a leader on and off the court. President Barack Obama presents Basketball Hall of Fame member and human ...

“More than any athlete of his era, Bill Russell came to define the word ‘winner,’” Obama said at the time. But, as Obama noted, he was also an activist, part of a coterie of 1960s greats — including boxer Muhammad Ali and football’s Jim Brown — that was known for its deep devotion to civil rights and social justice. “Today we lost a giant,” Obama tweeted shortly after Russell’s family announced that he had died on Sunday at 88.

Bill Russell won the NBA Championships 11 times with the Celtics; he also won two championships as a player-coach.

"For decades, Bill endured insults and vandalism, but never let it stop him from speaking up for what's right. On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. "Bill's wife, Jeannine, and his many friends and family thank you for keeping Bill in your prayers. He said: "Today, we lost a giant. The Boston Celtics added tributes to the "greatest champion" and "societal leader" that made history for their team: "In 2009, the award for the NBA Finals most valuable player was renamed after two-time Hall of Famer as the 'Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

Celtics legend and 11-time NBA Champion Bill Russell died 'peacefully' at the age of 88, his family confirmed Sunday.

“To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a group of men coordinating their efforts toward a common goal, alternately subordinating and asserting themselves to achieve real teamwork in action,” Russell once wrote. The Celtics exacted revenge on the 76ers the following season, winning the division finals 4-3 before defeating the Lakers 4-2 for Russell’s first championship as a player-coach. Those qualities would serve Russell in 1966 when Auerbach retired to focus on responsibilities as a general manager. I got to succeed or fail on this job not as a Black man or a white man or a green man, but as a coach. But there’s another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that’s the type Russell was.” He averaged at least 23 rebounds per game for seven straight seasons with a team-first acumen, all while helping to revolutionize the game on the defensive end. Boston took full advantage, often funneling opponents toward Russell. That, in turn, allowed the Celtics to play more aggressively on the perimeter. A dominant shot blocker, Russell was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times, in addition to earning All-Star recognition on 12 occasions in his 13-year career. Russell attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, where he was awkward and struggled to find playing time until his senior year. There, he paired up with future Celtics teammate K.C. Jones to lead San Francisco to 56 consecutive wins and NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. Russell racked up 21,620 career rebounds (22.5 per game), which ranks second only to Chamberlain’s career mark, and was a four-time season rebounding leader. “And we hope each of us can find a new way to act or speak up with Bill’s uncompromising, dignified and always constructive commitment to principle.

NBA pays tribute to Hall of Fame member as man who 'stood for something much bigger than sports'

“At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps. Until Russell, the game stayed close to the floor. He was the player-coach on two of those championship teams.

Auerbach, the longtime Boston Celtics coach, had confided in Russell that he planned to retire from coaching. Russell and Auerbach had created a dynasty ...

“With a lot of truly great players, it was tough for him to understand why regular players did not have the same drive, focus and commitment to winning that he did,” Jerry Reynolds, an assistant for Russell on the Kings, said in an interview Sunday. “There’s just not very many people wired like that. He was a longtime civil rights activist who coached the Celtics during the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. “It rubbed a lot of Bostonians the wrong way,” Russell wrote in his 2009 book. Russell did not talk often about being the first Black coach in a major sports league. Bernie Bickerstaff, who is Black, watched Russell take over as head coach of the Celtics just as he was about to enter into a life of coaching. “I truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or perhaps a general manager.” Russell left the Celtics in 1969 but took over the SuperSonics from 1973 until 1977. “At that time, you didn’t think about anything like that,” said Bickerstaff, who became the coach of the SuperSonics in 1985. “At the time, Boston was a totally segregated city — and I vehemently opposed segregation.” Art Shell became the N.F.L.’s first Black head coach in the modern era for the Oakland Raiders in 1989. “For example, when I was finally named publicly, I didn’t know that I had just become the first African American coach in the history of major league sports.” Russell, who died Sunday at 88, would go on to win two championships as the head coach of the Celtics, his 10th and 11th championship rings. Auerbach, the longtime Boston Celtics coach, had confided in Russell that he planned to retire from coaching.

Known as the winningest NBA player of all time, Bill Russell also blazed trails as a civil rights advocate.

Regarded as a recluse for much of his post-retirement years, Russell did occasionally take to social media in the final stages of his life, posting about basketball and his travels. In 2009, the NBA renamed the Finals Most Valuable Player award the “Bill Russell Award,” a fitting honor for a man who went 21-0 in winner-take-all games between his collegiate, Olympic and professional careers. Russell boycotted an exhibition game in 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky after two of his teammates were denied service in a coffee shop and was a highly visible member of the Black Power movement. Even as the Vietnam War and other off-court issues compromised his attention during his last season, Russell went out on top in his final campaign, combining with John Havlicek to lead the Celtics to a seven-game NBA Finals victory over the Lakers. Russell had 26 rebounds in his last professional game, a 108-106 road victory that cemented Boston as the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games. Bitter feelings over his treatment in Boston led Russell to forgo attending his own jersey retirement in 1972 and Hall of Fame induction in 1975. The 1966 series, also against the Lakers, required seven games, and he willed the Celtics to a 95-93 victory with 25 points and a game-high 32 rebounds.

Bill Russell, who won 11 National Basketball Association titles in 13 years with the Boston Celtics spanning the 1950s and 1960s, has died. He was 88.

Bill Russell died Sunday at age 88 after a legendary NBA career that gave way to a retirement filled with playing golf.

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The basketball legend was a champion not just on the court but off it—through his groundbreaking activism for racial justice.

But when you’re making $5,000 a year, and living in the America that he was at the time, that’s what makes him a hero.” As a homage to Colin Kaepernick’s protest, Russell posted a photo of himself taking a knee while wearing the presidential medal of freedom that he’d received from President Barack Obama in 2011. I cannot say the same about the fans or the city.” Russell endured their calling him “baboon,” “coon,” and “nigger” during games. Russell had been the NBA’s first Black head coach, while he was still a player—and he had experienced painful and humiliating racist abuse, even as he built the Celtics into a powerhouse. One of the ways the American Negro has attempted to show he is a human being is to demonstrate our race to the people through entertainment, and thus become accepted. Negroes are in a fight for their rights—a fight for survival—in a changing world. The experience only seemed to make Russell more determined to use his voice to bring awareness to this country’s deep-seated racial problems. Russell went ahead with the initiative despite death threats. I felt like the best thing I could do was use that as fuel, as opposed to simply having an emotional outburst at them. You went to public school, and I bet the police came to your neighborhood when somebody called the cops.’ I said, ‘Yes, Mr. Russell.’ He said, ‘Somebody was paying those people and you didn’t have any money. I decided to use that as energy to enhance my performance.” More than that, though, his fierce dedication to speaking out against racial injustice, his deep sense of integrity and righteousness, have long been considered the gold standard for athlete activism.

One of basketball's great players has died. Bill Russell was a star with the Boston Celtics and won the most titles of any NBA player: 11.

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Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell was a civil rights trailblazer, before, during and after his basketball career. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of ...

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Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years died on Sunday. He was 88.

In 2009, the MVP trophy of the NBA Finals was named in his honor. In 2013, a statue was unveiled on Boston's City Hall Plaza of Russell surrounded by blocks of granite with quotes on leadership and character. Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever. Celtics coach and general manager Red Auerbach so coveted Russell that he worked out a trade with the St. Louis Hawks for the second pick in the draft. But it was Jackie Robinson who gave Russell a road map for dealing with racism in his sport: "Jackie was a hero to us. "She hung the phone up and I asked myself, 'How do you get to be a hero to Jackie Robinson?'" Russell said. The Celtics won it all again in 1959, starting an unprecedented string of eight consecutive NBA crowns. He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players and made possible the success of so many who would follow." The native of Louisiana also left a lasting mark as a Black athlete in a city — and country — where race is often a flash point. It was Russell's mother who would tell him to disregard comments from those who might see him playing in the yard. Often, that meant Wilt Chamberlain, the only player of the era who was a worthy rival for Russell. At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps," Silver said.