Karen graduated from Harward Law School and has dissected high-profile trials and national political issues. One imagines you could do any number of subjects at this stage of your career. He went to high school in Oakland. People broke into his house and destroyed his trophies, among many other outrageous deeds. Russell asked for a gun permit. He was assaulted by a group of guys that ran by. Bill Russell viewed basketball as a science, and played the game with an analytical view as well as with an emotional intensity.Russell played the game psychologically as well, defending his various opponents so well that many times he made those he defended feel like they could not score a basket. Who was Bill Russells wife? He would return and defeat the Sixers in 1968, in a hotly contested Conference Final series, and easily defeat the Lakers in the Finals. 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. Yet, he led the Celtics to the NBA championships in a victory over the Lakers and immediately announced his retirement from basketball as a coach and player. The term Dynasty might have never applied to Basketball had it not been for Bill Russell. MARTIN: Whew. Hes still second on the NBAs all-time rebounding list, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, and will probably be in that spot forever since nobody has come remotely close to him in the last 50 years. Bill Russell was an American former basketball coach and former professional basketball player who was universally acknowledged as one of the greatest American sportspersons of all time. Never turned the trash cans over again.. Official Sites. However, they divorced in 1973. The statement draws attention to his achievements and contributions outside the field over the years. Declared Greatest Player in the History of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America (1980). Bill Russell is survived by three children: Jacob, William Russell Jr, and Karen. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "BILL RUSSELL: LEGEND"). Bill Russell, one of the greatest Boston Celtics and NBA players ever, died, his family said Sunday. If you have three hours and want to check out Russells story, you can watch this video right below. Named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated (1968). So why did you want to do this film and why now? The following season, Russell earned the NBA MVP award and helped the Celtics to another NBA final which they lost. By the end of his career, however, Russell himself had come to see the turmoil of the 1960s as far more important than the silly little game he played for a living. Thats what I did, Russell said in 2009. From his early childhood years, Williams Jr. was fascinated by trucks, and that is why he pursued his passion of being a driver. Cass Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of BroBible. At SportyTell.com, we strive for fairness and accuracy. Five times he was named the NBAs Most Valuable Player, and his 21,620 rebounds are second only to Chamberlains career mark. And he wasn't as aggressive as Jim Brown could be, you know, when he was at his height as an actor and as an activist. One of those that personally meant a lot to me was "Four Little Girls" about the 1963 Birmingham church bombings. Russell is a resident of Mercer Island, Washington where he stays with his wife. If you have concerns about something that doesnt look right in this Bill Russell Biography Facts, Childhood, Net Worth, Life, please dont hesitate to contact us. Updated. I mean, he had a major chip on his shoulder. Featured Image by Bill Russell / Instagram. POLLARD: My pleasure, Michel. Libraries werent open to the Black community in Louisiana so Katie Russell made sure to take advantage of that benefit upon their relocation. At the age of 9 he moved to Oakland. Russell anchored a Boston Celtics He was then married to Dorothy Anstett from 1977 to 1980 and Marilyn Nault from 1996 to 2009. Russell's The NBA legend was 88 years old at the time of his death. In 1964 they became the first team in the NBA to start an all-Black lineup. His last season came in 1968/69 as he began to age and lose interest in the professionalism of basketball. He received as much as $100,001 annually, plus an extra $25,000 as a player-coach. Yet in a sport that traditionally celebrates scoring and offensive heroics, Russell was an anomaly: a dominant player for whom making shots was truly secondary. moviemuskie@yahoo.com, Other Works Outside the classroom, Russell began playing basketball. 15 Episodes of Seinfeld That Teach Everything You Need To Know About Life, Read more sports articles on BroBible right here, 5-time NBA MVP Bill Russell shared a story from his childhood that he says changed his life forever, It took place right when he and his mother moved to the projects and he was attacked by a stranger, his mother then took charge of the situation. Its impossible to tell the story of the NBA without also telling the story of Bill Russell. Russell's 6'9" frame also earned plenty of attention. While in Oakland he was very poor but became a You know, I thought he was one of the greatest defensive centers who ever played the game. MARTIN: One of the things that I think people today don't realize is how much he had to put up with as a player. All Rights Reserved. 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. He was a man who grew up in Monroe, La., moved to Oakland with his family when he was a young, young man in his pre-teens. His Do you know what I mean? The autograph-seekers almost always declined. Before he won 11 NBA championships and five MVP awards before he won two national championships in Following his passing on Sunday at 88, tributes poured in fast NBA Seattle Supersonics, player/head coach (1973-1977). Anstett competed in theMiss Washingtonpageant in 1967, finishing in second place. He won more championships than any other NBA player and made the Boston Celtics one of the most successful franchises in the league's history. Later that year she won Miss USA1968 while studying at Washington. Russell anchored a Boston Celtics Somebody had broken in and defecated on the family bed and made - you know, wrote things on the wall and on his garage door. 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. 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. The world has many of them. In 1956 Red Auerbachthe Celtics head coach and general managertargeted Russell in the NBA draft, seeing the solution to his teams shortcomings. Bill Russell, byname of William Felton Russell, (born February 12, 1934, Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.died July 31, 2022), American basketball player who was the first outstanding defensive centre in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and one of the sports greatest icons. NBA Sacramento Kings, player/head coach (1987-1988). I was sitting on the steps. After his retirement, he served as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (197377) and the Sacramento Kings (198788), served as a commentator on television broadcasts of NBA games, and continued to remain active in social causes. And, you know, for me as a filmmaker, that gave me an opportunity to dig into Bill Russell's life, which was much more complicated than most people know, and that he was not only a great player on the court, but he was a very important human and civil rights activist off the court, too. NBA legend and Hall of Famer Bill Russell died Sunday at the age of 88. Bill Russell has been married on 4 different occasions but had never kept a marriage for up to 2 decades, the longest being 17 years (19561973) to a lady called He helped the team to the play-offs and his shot-blocking abilities were efficient in the NBA final against the St. Louis Hawks which the Celtics narrowly won. Russell would not stand for racism in sports, which was ironic, given Bostons historical notoriety in that department. Bill Russells daughter, Karen, was born in 1962. Due to malnutrition as a child, Russell was a lightweight player but built an exclusive manner of play as a centre to help the defence. Moreover, the Celtics needed to move up in the draft order to pick him; with Russell coming off two straight NCAA titles, some team was bound to take the plunge. 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. Russell knew that he had won, but he wanted to win over Chamberlain, and did not. Stand up for yourself. The documentary features the last interview with Russell before his passing, as well as archived interviews throughout his life. The cemetery is also the final resting place of martial arts action star Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, the FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur) Hall of Fame in 2007, and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in its inaugural ceremony in 2006. His family said on social media that Russell died on Sunday, July 31, 2022. 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. Russell could very easily have never taken up basketball, much less gone on to become one of the sports immortals. The Celtics legend had four wives during his life, and is now the focus of a Netflix documentary called Bill Russell: Legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975 as a player and 2021 as a coach. And she said What!. In 1969 most of the fabled Celtics had long been gone or had recently retired. Like, we certainly know, when it comes to Jackie Robinson, you know, the abuse that was directed at him. And there was no hesitation on my part because I grew up in the '60s. When Auerbach retired after the Celtics won the 196566 NBA title, Russell succeeded him as coach. Bills third wife was Marilyn Nault, whom he married in 1996. WebBill Russell was an American former basketball coach and former professional basketball player who was universally acknowledged as one of the greatest American Russell now had the daunting task of taking a bottom seed to defeat some of the best teams of all time, including a newly revamped Philadelphia after the Chamberlain trade, who they beat, and the New York Knickerbockers, led by Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, and Walt Frazier, who they beat in 6, and set the match for the Los Angeles Lakers, which now had Chamberlain.Chamberlain, as well as Jerry West and Elgin Baylor always fell short to the Celtics. While there is still progress to be made, the Hall of Famer should get a lot of credit for fighting against what was wrong. Over the course of his 13-year NBA career, Russell steered the club to 11 titles. The oldest son of Bill Russell, William Felton Russell Jr, who was named after the 11-time NBA champion, unfortunately passed away in 2016. 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