Thank you for . According to Taylor, he often perceived insults even if others did not. [105] He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings, and was generally lacking energy; after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion. [152] In 2009, Russell's erstwhile Knicks opponent Bill Bradley wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Russell "was the smartest player ever to play the game [of basketball]". He led the San Francisco Dons to two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956,[4] and he captained the gold-medal winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. When I sent you to Harvard, I expected you to be able to do the same. She then chose to stay well away from the spotlight while still co-parenting their children, but alas, it all ended on September 11, 2014, as she passed away at the age of 78 owing to some natural health problems. Powered by. [64], The Celtics won 49 games and made the first berth in the 1958 NBA playoffs, where they met in the 1958 NBA Finals with their familiar rivals, the St. Louis Hawks. "[198] In 2009, Russell wrote his paternal grandfather's motto, passed down to his father and then to him: "A man has to draw a line inside himself that he won't allow any man to cross." William Felton Russell was born on February 12, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana. He's so good, he scares you. Here's what we know about his kids and family. [141], Russell is one of the most successful and decorated athletes in North American sports history. 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, according to a family statement from his . [109] Journalists were often treated to the "Russell Glower", described as an "icily contemptuous stare accompanied by a long silence". "[207] To teammates and friends, Russell was open and amicable; he was extremely distrusting and cold towards anyone else. [219] The FBI maintained a file on Russell and described him in their file as "an arrogant Negro who won't sign autographs for white children". In 1975, he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame. However, she was a step-mom to Russell's three children from his first marriage. @celtics . His personal relationships thus take up a small part of this original as well so now, if you simply wish to learn more about the four women of his life, weve got the essential details for you. Goudsouzian stated that a segment of the file called Russell "an arrogant Negro who won't sign autographs for white children." His brother, Charlie, was a respected playwright. [93], In the 1965 NBA playoffs, the Celtics played the Eastern Division Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that had traded for Chamberlain. "[109] This supported the opinion of many white fans that Russell, who was by then the highest-paid Celtic, was egotistical, paranoid, and hypocritical. Russell, who once said he owed the public nothing,[109] was not there; he ended his career and cut all ties to the Celtics. '"[203], In a retrospective interview, Russell described the state of mind he felt he needed to enter in order to be able to play basketball: "I had to almost be in a rage. 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. [5] Russell is the all-time playoff leader in total (4,104) and average (24.9) rebounds per game, he grabbed 40 rebounds in three separate playoff games (twice in the NBA Finals), and he never failed to average at least 20 rebounds per game in any of his thirteen playoff campaigns. K. C. Jones did not play for the Celtics until 1958 because of military service. Alex Wong/Getty Images. Bill Russell never ceases to amaze me. [98] Third choice Tom Heinsohn also said no because he did not think he could handle the often surly Russell,[98] whom he proposed as a player-coach. In the 1960 NBA playoffs, Russell's Celtics met Chamberlain's Warriors in the Eastern Division Finals. The 11-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and the first Black head coach in the league Bill Russell passed away at the age of 88 on 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. Bill Russell achieved a lot during his life. He tied the knot with three different gals. [212] He was often called Felton X, presumably in the tradition of the Nation of Islam's practice of replacing a European slave name with an X and purchased land in Liberia. 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. Off the court, Bill Russell paved the way for guys like me." Russell, a 6-foot-10 center, also won the NBA regular season MVP award five times while averaging 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 . Russell articulated these views with a measure of self-criticism, saying: "I consider this a deficiency in myselfmaybe. She has had many amazing accomplishments in her life. We won 28 out of 29 games. Arthur was a man of great courage. The couple grew emotionally distant and divorced. I was the MVP at the Final Four. Although nearly 16 years younger than Bill Russell, Kansas native Marilyn Nault tied the knot with the basketball legend on . [65] The teams split the first two games, but Russell went down with a foot injury in Game 3 and only returned for Game 6. Russell regarded Auerbach as "the greatest of all coaches". After much debate, Auerbach agreed to give up Hagan and the Hawks made the trade. [50], Before his NBA rookie year, Russell was the captain of the 1956 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team that competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, which was held in November and December in Melbourne, Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere. He Had Three Children with His First Wife. He said: "The Celtics were the first [NBA basketball] team to draft a black player, period: a guy named Chuck Cooper from Duquesne. [150] He also had 51 in one game, 49 in two others, and twelve straight seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. The champion marched with Martin Luther King for civil rights. He actually enrolled at the School of Art Institute in Chicago for a Bachelors in Design-Visual Communications upon graduating from Californias Galileo Academy of Science & Technology, just to then kickstart his career. [49], 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. And that's the kind of guy [Brown] was. [167] On June 15, 2017, Russell was announced as the inaugural recipient of the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award. [41] While blocked shots were not a recorded basketball statistic during Russell's career, he averaged 8.1 blocks in 135 games, as Boston writers often attempted to tally his blocks. The Lakers featured new recruit Chamberlain next to perennial stars Baylor and West, and were the favorites. but We will update you or notify you when we get any more information about his family. The psychology is to make the offensive team deviate from their normal habits. 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. Heinsohn felt that Russell resented him because the former was named the 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year. In the pivotal Game 7, Russell managed to hold Chamberlain to 22 points, 28 points below his season average, while scoring 19 points. In Game 4, the Celtics were trailing by one point with seven seconds left and the Lakers had the ball until Baylor stepped out of bounds. Celtics owner Walter A. [155] In 1970, The Sporting News named Russell the "Athlete of the Decade". [84] 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. Twenty million England fans go wild across the country as Lionesses WIN nerve-shredding Euro final against Germany. [49] He excelled at playing man-to-man defense, blocking shots, and grabbing defensive rebounds. Nothing went on outside the borders of the court. He was born on November 2, 1957, and spent several years working for Cox Trucking. Bill Russell had three kids, Karen, William Jr., and Jacob. 6 jersey would be retired throughout the National Basketball Association, the first time a jersey had been retired league-wide in NBA history, and joining Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky in the honor among the four major American sports leagues. [192], During his career, Russell was one of the first big earners in NBA basketball. The NCAA had previously prohibited goaltending in response to George Mikan (1945) and later banned the dunk shot due to Lew Alcindor (1967), although the latter rule was later repealed. [48], In the draft, Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach set his sights on Russell, thinking his defensive toughness and rebounding prowess were the missing pieces the Celtics needed. [109] In response, Russell described Boston as a "flea market of racism". The truth is she had to pursue different opportunities to make money for herself since she wanted to attend university, which ultimately led her to the glamorous world of pageantry. [49] On offense, Russell's output was limited and his NBA career personal averages show him to be an average scorer (15.1 points career average), a poor free-throw shooter (56.1%), and average overall shooter from the field (44%, not exceptional for a center). In his 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Boston Celtics, Bill Russell, who has died aged 88, won . [18], Russell was born on February 12, 1934, to Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. . [4] In his USF years, Russell took advantage of his relative lack of bulk to develop a unique defensive style: instead of purely guarding the opposing center, he used his quickness and speed to play help defense against opposing forwards and aggressively challenge their shots. [107], Days later, 30,000 Celtics fans cheered their returning heroes. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers), are grandfatheredthey may keep the number until they voluntarily change it or retirebut the number will not be issued again to a new player. "[49] The next day, The Boston Globe read: "Russell's Reflexes Befuddles Visitors. I wanted you to have the best possible education and to be able to make the best contacts. He actually enrolled at the School of Art Institute in Chicago for a Bachelor's in Design-Visual Communications upon graduating from California's Galileo . [50], The St. Louis Hawks, who owned the second pick, drafted Russell but were vying for Celtics center Ed Macauley, a six-time NBA All-Star who had roots in St. Louis. The NBA legend was 88 years old at the time of his death. Although the middle child of Bill Sr. and Rose Swisher (born on July 6, 1959), Jacob is arguably the simplest member of the prominent Russell family in almost every sense of the term. Both Cousy and Russell called it the greatest Celtics team of all-time. In 2009, the NBA renamed the NBA Finals MVP Award in his honor. [177], On August 2, 2020, the West Coast Conference (WCC), which has been home to Russell's alma mater of USF since the league's formation in 1952,[178][a] became the first NCAA Division I conference to adopt a conference-wide diversity hiring commitment, announcing the Russell Rule, named after Russell and based on the National Football League's Rooney Rule.
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