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.

Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday at age 88.

The team staggered to a 17-41 record, and Russell departed midseason. For a time he was paired with the equally blunt Rick Barry, and the duo provided brutally frank commentary on the game. He was overall by far the best, and that only helped bring out the best in me." It was hailed as a sociological advance, since Russell was the first Black coach of a major league team in any sport, let alone so distinguished a team. "I was the villain because I was so much bigger and stronger than anyone else out there," Chamberlain told the Boston Herald in 1995. "My team was losing and his was winning, so it would be natural that I would be jealous. Our thoughts are with his family as we mourn his passing and celebrate his enormous legacy in basketball, Boston, and beyond," the Celtics said in a statement. The first time I did that in a game, my coach called timeout and said, 'No good defensive player ever leaves his feet.'" He then led the U.S. basketball team to victory in the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. "I cherished my friendship with Bill and was thrilled when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I often called him basketball's Babe Ruth for how he transcended time. And he won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics. At USF, he was a two-time All-American, won two straight NCAA championships and led the team to 55 consecutive wins.

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.

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.

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.

The Boston Celtics center, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and a coach, won a record 11 titles in a playing career that ...

There was a mischievous side to the icon, who also delighted in flipping the bird at his basketball colleagues in hopes of making them laugh. Russell’s death prompted tributes from the Celtics, who posted an image of his No. 6 under 11 shamrocks, to represent his championships as a player, and above two additional shamrocks, to represent his titles as a coach. Jaylen Brown, a Celtics forward who led a protest march in Atlanta after George Floyd’s death, added: “Thank you for paving the way and inspiring so many. “Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher — both as a player and as a person,” Obama wrote Sunday. “He was a civil rights trailblazer — marching with Dr. King and standing with Muhammad Ali. For decades, Bill endured insults and vandalism, but never let it stop him from speaking up for what’s right. “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.

Teams, sports figures and celebrities shared their condolences and thoughts on the passing on NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell.

He was an innovator who broke through barriers and for all of his extraordinary successes on the court, he was just as impactful off of it. Scottie Pippen: “Bill Russell was the epitome of a champion, in every sense of the word. He had a career of firsts & led the way for many. He was the ultimate leader, ultimate team player & ultimate champion.” Michael Jordan: “Bill Russell was a pioneer — as a player, as a champion, as the NBA’s first Black head coach and as an activist. Charles Barkley statement: “Bill Russell’s passing is not just an NBA loss, it is a world loss.

Boston (AP) -- Bill Russell redefined how basketball is played, and then he changed the way sports are viewed in a racially divided country.

Boston (AP) -- Bill Russell redefined how basketball is played, and then he changed the way sports are viewed in a racially divided country.

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.

Red Auerbach had nothing but respect for Michael Jordan. The NBA coaching icon often was asked whether Jordan was the greatest of all time, ...

In 2009, Russell wrote a book titled “Red and Me.” The subtitle summed up their relationship: “My Coach, My Lifelong Friend.” He convinced Celtics owner Walter Brown, who happened to own the Ice Capades, to promise Harrison that the Ice Capades would play Rochester for one week the next year if Harrison didn’t take Russell with the No. 1 pick. Then he would deliver the coup de grace: “How in the world would Shaq guard Russell? He would run him right into the floor. Auerbach would puff on his cigar and smile. Auerbach traded two future Hall of Famers — Ed Macauley and the rights to Cliff Hagan — to the St. Louis Hawks to move up to No. 2. Auerbach loved to tell Russell stories. Harrison took Duquesne’s Sihugo Green, Russell went second, the Ice Capades played to sellout crowds in Rochester, and a year later the Royals moved to Cincinnati. There was far more to Russell than his remarkable statistics. He wasn’t a great scorer — he averaged 15.1 points in his 13-season NBA career — but he didn’t need to be because he had great scorers around him with the Boston Celtics. He was an extraordinary rebounder, grabbing 22.5 per game. “It was almost like starting a fast break when he blocked a shot,” Sam Jones, his longtime teammate, once said. The NBA didn’t begin to track blocked shots until after Russell retired, so there’s no way to know how many he denied. A lot of great centers never gave the ball up — Russell did so willingly.

The promise of America is that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. We've never fully lived up to that.

That was Bill Russell. From a childhood in segregated Louisiana to a career playing on the biggest stages in sports at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Bill faced the hostility and hate of racism embedded in every part of American life. And on this day, there are generations of Americans who are reflecting on what he meant to them as someone who played for the essential truth that every person is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. The promise of America is that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.

Bill Russell, whose defensive prowess as a center made him the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics basketball dynasty in the 1950s and 1960s, has died.

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

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years — the last two as the first Black head coach in any ...

Thank you for all you did for us and this game. This is a teary-eyed Sunday knowing that we lost a legendary human being@RealBillRussellHis dedication to civil-rights, human-rights and the sport of basketball puts him beyond legendary status. Thank you for everything you have given to the game and all of us. My condolences and prayers to his family.pic.twitter.com/v2aHm5x4yt Was an absolute honor to spend time with#BillRussell. He was a walking encyclopedia. The ultimate leader and just happened to be one of the best hoopers ever! Thank you, Bill, for leading the way and giving us such a high bar to shoot at. My friend. My hero. RIP to an all-time winner, teammate and person. May he Rest in Power. Bill Russell was an inspiration to me in so many ways.

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.

So many in the NBA community are paying tribute to the extraordinary life Russell led.

My condolences and prayers to his family.— Harrison Barnes (@hbarnes) pic.twitter.com/v2aHm5x4yt July 31, 2022 Thank you, Bill, for leading the way and giving us such a high bar to shoot at.— David Robinson (@DavidtheAdmiral) July 31, 2022 (3/4)— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 31, 2022 I will forever remember his cackling laugh, sense of humor and love for the game of basketball.— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) pic.twitter.com/tLaK2gjlGa July 31, 2022 Since the day we met, he mentored me and shared advice.— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) July 31, 2022 This is a teary-eyed Sunday knowing that we lost a legendary human being— Robert Horry (@RKHorry) @RealBillRussellHis dedication to civil-rights, human-rights and the sport of basketball puts him beyond legendary status. Over the course of our friendship, he always reminded me about making things better in the Black community.— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) pic.twitter.com/K73adpaWZ4 July 31, 2022 He handled every adversity with dignity and grace, and walked away a champion. I looked up to him on the court and off. His success on the court was undeniable; he was dominate and great, winning 11 NBA championships. This is a loss being felt deeply across the world, particularly among current and former Celtics and the NBA community at large. Russell won an NBA record 11 NBA championships, including eight straight, over a 13-year career with the Boston Celtics -- the final two of which he served as Boston's head coach in addition to playing.

The centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years, Russell earned his last two NBA titles as a player-coach — the first Black ...

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. He was at the March on Washington in 1963, when King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, and he backed Ali when the boxer was pilloried for refusing induction into the military draft. 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. “He paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me. 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. “Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. 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 Celtics also picked up Tommy Heinsohn and K.C. Jones, Russell’s college teammate, in the same draft. “People said it was a wasted draft choice, wasted money,” he recalled. No cause of death was immediately available; Russell, who had been living in the Seattle area, was not well enough to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy in June due to a long illness. Often, that meant Wilt Chamberlain, the only worthy rival of Russell’s era and his prime competition for rebounds, MVP trophies and barroom arguments about who was better.

Bill Russell has won many accolades in his life, including an Olympic gold medal and 11 championship titles.

He was also named as one of the 50 greatest players in the NBA in 1996. The list of accolades won by His demise was confirmed through an official statement released by the family.

The Celtics enshrined Russell's No. 6 among those that will never be worn again. The NBA should do the same.

He did in 1972, when the Celtics raised his number to the rafters, going along with it only after the team agreed to do it in an empty Boston Garden. In 1975, Russell refused to attend his Hall of Fame induction because he believed other Black athletes, including Cooper, deserved to be enshrined first. Late in life, Russell told a story about the day Robinson died. He said he took a call from Robinson’s wife, Rachel, who asked Russell to be a pallbearer at Robinson’s funeral. He racked up an 11–1 Finals record in a city where, according to Russell, he was referred to as “baboon,” “coon” and “ni-----. Russell would never ask for his number to be retired. Bill Russell and Jackie Robinson were in that same class.” And he went to buy another house. And he was so taken by it, he started to cry. And what his remarks were like, "I want to live in Reading for the rest of my life." In 1997, at a ceremony during a game between the Dodgers and Mets, then MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that, once the group of players currently wearing the number gave it up, no one would wear No. 42 again. The NBA has done much to honor Russell’s legacy. William Felton Russell died Sunday. He was 88.

Few people in history, let alone athletes, have made a greater impact than the Celtics legend. While he's best known for his 11 rings, the Hall of Famer set ...

All of the fights Russell endured have been validated, and with the legacy he’s left behind, a road map to progress has been erected. The first and only time I encountered Bill Russell was in the spring of 2013. He was at Oracle Arena, hours removed from a rare appearance at McClymonds, where he was being added to the school’s Wall of Champions. He spent 90 minutes with the school’s basketball team, answering questions and reflecting on the distinction being bestowed. In 2017, Russell tweeted a picture of himself kneeling in solidarity with Kaepernick and other athletes, while wearing the Medal of Freedom around his neck. And when Muhammad Ali declined to participate in the Vietnam War, Russell, with the help of NFL star Jim Brown, organized a meeting dubbed the “Cleveland Summit” to offer support for the boxer. The incident shattered Russell’s relationship with the city, and he became aloof to fans and media alike. Though Chamberlain outscored and outrebounded Russell in their head-to-head matchups, Russell’s Celtics beat Chamberlain more than 60 percent of the time, including in Game 7 of the 1969 Finals, when the underdog Celtics, led by player-coach Bill Russell, stunned a Lakers team featuring Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor to prevail in Russell’s final professional game. “A record unmatched,” Obama proclaimed of the Boston dynasty, “in any sport.” I consider playing professional basketball as marking time, the most shallow thing in the world.” The next day, George Powles, McClymonds’s varsity basketball coach and Russell’s homeroom teacher, extended a spot on the varsity team and purchased Russell a yearlong membership to a local community center. On the afternoon of February 15, 2011, Bill Russell sat on a stage in the East Room of the White House, preparing to be celebrated for a lifetime of triumph. That act of kindness ignited something in Russell, and his work ethic would become the stuff of legend.

Basketball fans, athletes and elected leaders are mourning the death of Celtics great Bill Russell. The NBA legend and civil rights advocate died Sunday at ...

"He was the best." "My dad used to talk about him as just, the guy, how he was just this incredible player, and there was nobody like him," he said. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she was devastated by the news. Gov. Charlie Baker called Russell the greatest of all time, as someone who broke barriers in both "the game of basketball and the game of life for Black athletes and Americans." "He put up with a lot in Boston, and he just kept on winning, kept on working at it, dedicated to the sport, just a good person," he said. "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."

It was 1956 and the Boston Celtics, now the most successful franchise in NBA history, had yet to win a title. They had a good team with Bob Cousy, ...

Every team knew him and he was going to be picked early in the draft. That's no less than 11 titles in 13 years. The Russell deal was the greatest exercise in trade engineering in league history and transformed Boston from a good team to a championship team to a legendary one.

The basketball legend, who died Sunday aged 88, was doggedly committed to using his platform to amplify his political actions, setting a template for ...

During his first championship run in 1957, Russell blocked Jack Coleman in the final minute of regulation in the deciding Game 7 to keep the Celtics in the game and allow them to eventually win the title. In 1961, he boycotted a game in Kentucky after a white waitress refused to serve two of his Black teammates at a coffee shop. He was subjected to racism throughout his career, even in Boston, the city he represented for 13 years: vandals once broke into his Massachusetts home and covered the walls with racist graffiti. During his 13 seasons in the league, he led the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA championships, including eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966. And yet, despite the outpouring of kind words in his memory, Russell may still be the most underappreciated icon in NBA history. To begin with, Russell is the winningest player in NBA history and it’s not even really close.