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You are here: Home / Absent Friends / Rest in Power, Bill Russell

Rest in Power, Bill Russell

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… Russell became a superstar in the 1950s and ’60s not with flashy scoring plays but through dominating rebounding and intense defensive play that reshaped the game. He also had what team mate Tom Heinsohn called “a neurotic need to win”.

The Celtics won 11 NBA titles in Russell’s 13 years with the team from 1956 through 1969. He was the player-coach on two of those championship teams.

“To be the greatest champion in your sport, to revolutionize the way the game is played, and to be a societal leader all at once seems unthinkable, but that is who Bill Russell was,” the Celtics said in a statement…

Off the court, Russell was opinionated and complicated. He had a baleful glare but also a delightful cackling laugh. He was intellectual and a “Star Trek” fan. Often surly or indifferent to fans and hostile toward the media, he could be exceedingly gracious with team mates and opponents. He refused to sign autographs, saying he preferred to have conversations.

Russell often criticized Boston, a city with a history of racial strife, and was one of the sports world’s leading civil rights activists in the 1950s and ’60s. He was on the front row in Washington in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech…

Russell became semi-reclusive after his coaching career, saying, “I wanted to be forgotten.” He took tentative steps back into the public arena beginning in the early 1990s, after becoming a founding board member of MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership. He said his mentoring effort was the “proudest accomplishment in life.”

Russell went on to make frequent public speaking appearances and television commercials and even showed up when the Celtics dedicated a statue of him in Boston’s City Hall Plaza in 2013.

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. The first, he said, was when his 77-year-old father told him that he was proud of him…

… Russell was uncompromising when it came to his principles. “There are two societies in this country, and I have to recognize it, to see life for what it is and not go stark, raving mad,” he told Sport magazine in 1963, referring to the racial divide. “I don’t work for acceptance. I am what I am. If you like it, that’s nice. If not, I couldn’t care less.”

He was also an immensely proud man.

“If you can take something to levels that very few other people can reach,” he told Sports Illustrated in 1999, “then what you’re doing becomes art.”

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    He was intellectual and a “Star Trek” fan.

    Knowing this makes it even more poignant that he and his contemporary Nichelle Nichols died on the same day. May they both RIP.

  5. 5.

    Mike in NC

    Both of my brothers are massive Celtics fans and never miss a game on TV. Basketball isn’t my thing.

  6. 6.

    craigie

    When I was in High School I went into a store in Beverly Hills to look around and Bill Russel was in there shooting a commercial. He was larger than life, in real life.

  7. 7.

    JMG

    Lucky enough to have seen him play live, a good number of times. Luckier still to have grown up around Philly, so I always saw him against Wilt. I could never criticize a life decision Russell made, but it’s too bad he retired just before Kareem came into the league. That would’ve been worth watching, too.

    A person who uses fame for good is an exceptional person, and he sure was. One of the most exceptional of my long lifetime.

  9. 9.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I loved the fact that Bill Russell was the only athlete who Michael Jordan couldn’t intimidate.

  10. 10.

    Jharp

    What is it about the NBA that gives us these extraordinary men?

    LeBron,  Shaq,  Charles, and one of my tops, Kareem.

  11. 11.

    patrick II

    I saw him play in person several times.  He was cat-quick and played defense at a level I have not seen since.  I read his book, and one particular story stood out.  He was giving a lecture at a college and called a student up to the stage for a short debate about race.  Bill made his points but every time the student started to respond Bill (gently I think) put his hands around the student’s neck.  He told the audience that is what it was like to be a black American speaking out about racism.

    I was a big fan.  Plus, he had such a great laugh.

  13. 13.

    raven

    When he was asked if his five MVP’s were his greatest accomplishment he said “no, my daughter graduating from Harvard was my greatest accomplishment”!

  15. 15.

    raven

    The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by  Isabel Wilkerson includes the story of how the Russell family moved from Monroe, LA to Oakland, Ca.

  16. 16.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    He was a good actor and entertaining sports broadcaster as well.

    He turned in a fine job as a crooked judge with a dark side in “Miami Vice”

    Here a fun commercial he did with the Mt. Rushmore of centers: Kareem, Wilt, Big Red, and himself (video)

  17. 17.

    Ben Cisco

    I watched basketball with my dad as a child. Russell was the man. But more than that, the sheer DIGNITY of the man. His refusal to be treated as anything lesser. That made an impact.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    @Ben Cisco:

    I watched basketball with my dad as a child. Russell was the man. But more than that, the sheer DIGNITY of the man. His refusal to be treated as anything lesser. That made an impact.

    Yes!

    I was reading the piece in an earlier thread which noted that his home had been vandalized when he was out of town during away games. I do not understand why anyone would want to disrespect him.

    And inevitably some fools saw his dignity and interpreted that as being arrogant.

    I was not a huge sports fan growing up, but Russell was always a hero. He also seemed to be well-rounded, unlike some celebrities and athletes who don’t care much about the world outside their main area of fame. I also admire Kareem as much as I admired Russell. They will always be giants to me.

  19. 19.

    Skepticat

    He was one of my heroes, and his book made a huge impact on me. He was a big man in many ways. And his laugh echoes.

  20. 20.

    Splitting Image

    I guess no one can complain about reaching 88 and 89, but a lot of people are losing two heroes on the same day, and that will hurt.

    RIP to both Mr. Russell and Ms. Nichols.

  21. 21.

    beth

    I thought this was a nice tribute.

    Jon Stewart

    @jonstewart

    Bill Russell was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. Once called out of the blue because he thought I looked sad on TV…best pep talk of my life. RIP

  22. 22.

    JimV

    I enjoyed watching him play, and enjoyed both of his autobiographical books (“Go Up For Glory” and “Second Wind”). Two things modern players have forgotten that he invented: 1) when blocking a shot, don’t slam it out of bounds, tip it to a teammate; 2) when running toward someone to block their shot, take a step sideways so you can jump diagonally across the front of them, not straight at them. A third thing would be to learn to clear a rebound with a long baseball pass with either hand, so you can do it with one motion without having to turn around the long way, but who else is going to practice that?

    He was a defensive genius partly because he was a terrific athlete with a 48″ vertical jump at 6′ 9-1/2″, and because he was a genius or very smart who thought about the game.

    His last two seasons in college were undefeated (66-0) national championships, followed by an Olympic gold medal as an amateur (required then).

    One of the stories from his books: his father worked in a mill. When Russell got his first big NBA contract, he told his father to quit his job. His father replied, “No son, I gave that mill 40 good years; now I’m going to give it a couple of bad ones.”

    Here’s a classic Bill Russell play, against the Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers:

    Walli Jones, a fancy dribbling Philly guard had the ball, racing down the court on a fast break, along with Luke Jackson, a 6′ 9″, 260-lb rim-shaker (Philly power forward). Between them, stride for stride, three across, was Bill Russell. When they got to the Philly basket, Jones went up with the ball in his right hand (on the right side of the three and of the rim) as though to shoot a hooking layup off glass. Bill also went up with his long left arm (he was left-handed) to block the shot, but the shot was a fake and Jones whipped the ball down and behind his back towards Jackson. At which Bill’s huge right hand shot out and grabbed the ball (as I could grab a cantaloupe). Bill then passed the ball back for a Celtic four-on-three, laughing his trademark chuckle.

    The left arm had been a fake on a fake. He knew Jones would go behind the back and was ready for it.

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    Ms. Nichols was going to leave Star Trek after the first season.

    Martin Luther King told her that she couldn’t leave.

    That story

     

    Portia “You’re Mean” McGonagal (@PortiaMcGonagal) tweeted at 3:00 PM on Sun, Jul 31, 2022:
    Representation matters. The gleam and joy that we see in Black and other children’s eyes when they meet people like President Obama and Vice President Harris, has its roots here. It did for the once little girl I was. https://t.co/7DHAHWzaqh
    (https://twitter.com/PortiaMcGonagal/status/1553832910800580608?s=02)

  28. 28.

    pajaro

    @JMG:

    I remember him being interviewed at the time of his retirement, and he was asked about Kareem (then Lew Alcindor).  As I remember it, he laughed one of his great laughs and said, “no thanks, I’ll let you younger folks try to deal with him.”

    I second the rest of you.  Wonderful man.  Great, great player.  If you double count the years he won a title while being a player-coach, he was 13 titles in 13 years, not to mention three others (NCAA championships and Olympics) the the two years preceding.

  29. 29.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    While this thread is long dead, I just can’t get over the cognitive dissonance needed to both see Russell as inferior because of his race AND be angry he won’t sign autographs.

  30. 30.

    J R in WV

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    Racist bigots have all turned off their cognitive abilities in order to believe their irrational hateful bullshit.

    Same as when some fool asks why someone is wearing a mask… we all know they know why and think they are entitled to try imposing their poor world view on someone with more knowledge than they have.

  31. 31.

    Paul in KY

    Will say this about Mr. Russell: On the Celtics all-time great team, 12 or so of the greatest players to ever suit up for that franchise. There is 1 captain: Bill Russell. Will be that way in 100 years.

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