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How old is bill russell basketball player
Bill Russell | Biography, Height, Championships, & Facts
Bill Russell
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Born:
February 12, 1934 Monroe Louisiana
Died:
July 31, 2022 (aged 88)
Awards And Honors:
Olympic Games Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011) Basketball Hall of Fame (1975) Most Valuable Player (1967)
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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 sport’s greatest icons. He won 11 NBA titles in the 13 seasons that he played with the Boston Celtics, and he became the first African American coach of a modern major professional sports team in the United States when he was named the player-coach of the Celtics in 1966.
Russell could very easily have never taken up basketball, much less gone on to become one of the sport’s immortals. He was born in rural Louisiana. When Russell was eight years old, his father moved the family to Oakland, California, where the job prospects were better. Russell, while no behemoth, was tall enough to make his high school team on height alone. He was a marginal player until, while on a summer basketball tour he had been selected for as an afterthought, he realized that running and jumping could be used to mirror and counteract the flashy, creative scorers that routinely gave teams fits. It was a breakthrough that would change not only his life but, in the long term, basketball itself.
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Russell was lightly recruited by colleges, but Hal DeJulio, a former player at the nearby University of San Francisco (USF), had seen him play and had an inkling as to his potential, so he recommended Russell to his old school. In college, the 6-foot 9-inch (2.06-metre) Russell blossomed, providing a defensive presence that helped lead USF to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in 1955 and 1956. In addition, he was a high-level sprinter and high jumper on USF’s track-and-field team (Wilt Chamberlain, his future archrival, also excelled at track and field up until his pro basketball career). In 1956 Red Auerbach—the Celtics’ head coach and general manager—targeted Russell in the NBA draft, seeing the solution to his team’s shortcomings. Once again, there was an element of chance involved: Auerbach had never seen Russell play and instead had to rely on the word of a trusted peer. 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. So the Celtics traded centre Ed Macauley and the rights to guard-forward Cliff Hagan, who had yet to play in the NBA owing to his military service, to the St. Louis Hawks shortly after the Hawks used the second overall pick of the draft to select Russell. Both Macauley and Hagan would eventually land in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an indication of how highly Auerbach valued Russell.
Russell’s impact was immediate. The Celtics won a title in his rookie year, and he became the league’s first African American superstar, though not its first Black player (who was Earl Lloyd in 1956). He missed out on the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, ostensibly because teammate Tom Heinsohn had played the entire season whereas Russell had missed time as a result of his participation in the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games (where he helped the U.S. men’s basketball team win a gold medal). But there was more to it than that: the white Heinsohn was simply a more attractive candidate for many voters. Russell, outspoken and relentlessly intelligent when it came to matters of race, was not just the NBA’s first Black superstar; as the Celtics quickly came to dominate the NBA, he also became an activist on par with Muhammad Ali. Russell would not stand for racism in sports, which was ironic, given Boston’s historical notoriety in that department.
During his career, Russell supported the American civil rights movement, spoke out against the Vietnam War, and did much that, had it come from any lesser athlete, would have been cause for immediate controversy. But the Celtics kept winning, and he remained the engine that made them go. Frustratingly, his sheer basketball excellence made his actions not only excusable for fans but tolerated in a way that bordered on dismissive. His on-court achievements did not give him a platform; instead, they granted him a strange kind of amnesty—the very greatness that should have forced others to listen somehow overshadowed any trouble he might have wanted to stir up.
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. As the decade progressed, the Celtics continued to make history. In 1964 they became the first team in the NBA to start an all-Black lineup. Auerbach’s lineup came out of necessity; he was notoriously indifferent to social causes and the opposing backlash. It was, however, a milestone made possible by Russell’s performance and larger significance. When Auerbach retired after the Celtics won the 1965–66 NBA title, Russell succeeded him as coach. Granted, it was in part because no one could deal with the moody Russell except Russell himself, but it still made him the first African American coach in NBA history, as well as the first to win a title when Boston took the 1967–68 championship. Russell took home one more championship before hanging up his sneakers for good in 1969. He had made great strides within the game of basketball, but the restless, conscientious Russell felt that there were bigger battles to fight. After his retirement, he served as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (1973–77) and the Sacramento Kings (1987–88), served as a commentator on television broadcasts of NBA games, and continued to remain active in social causes. His autobiography, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man (cowritten with Taylor Branch), was published in 1979. Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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In 13 seasons, Russell won 11 NBA championships (1957, 1959–66, and 1968–69). For good measure, he might have had 12, had an ankle injury not sidelined him early in the 1958 NBA finals. It is a truly staggering rate of success, one that no other NBA player has come close to approaching. Russell’s Celtics ruled the roost at a time when the minuscule number of teams (the NBA consisted of eight or nine franchises for the majority of his career) made for a greatly condensed talent pool, and a combination of integration and improved scouting brought on an unprecedented rush of new stars.
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. His calling card was defense, rebounding, and—above all else—shot blocking, which he transformed into a fluid athletic art in the same way that some of his contemporaries had altered the perception of what was possible on offense. Before his arrival, the Celtics had been a shot-happy, nearly out-of-control team, led by passing wizard Bob Cousy. What Russell did was close the circuit, creating turnovers that allowed Boston to get back on offense even faster, as well as patrol the paint with an intensity that single-handedly compensated for the Celtics’ imbalance. Over the years, Russell’s approach became the team’s overall philosophy as athletic players who saw defense as a means to key the fast break were introduced into the roster. The Celtics dynasty retooled over the years between 1956 and 1969, but the one constant was Russell. He defined the team’s philosophy and its strategy. But above all else, Russell was basketball’s ultimate winner.
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Bill Russell: NBA legend and civil rights activist Bill Russell dies at 88
CNN —
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 verified Twitter account. He was 88.
“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 most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon.”
In addition to his sporting achievements, Russell was one of sport’s leading civil rights activists and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. He also supported iconic boxer Muhammad Ali in his opposition to being drafted into military service.
Former US President Barack Obama took to social media to praise Russell’s contribution to both basketball and society.
“Today, we lost a giant. As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher – both as a player and as a person,” he said.
“Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead. On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. Off of it, 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. I learned so much from the way he played, the way he coached, and the way he lived his life. Michelle and I send our love to Bill’s family, and everyone who admired him. ”
Russell shooting the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Boston Garden.
Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty Images
Russell won 11 championships with the Celtics, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966. He was a five-time NBA MVP and a 12-time All-Star.
As a coach for the Celtics, he led Boston to two titles, becoming the first Black head coach to win an NBA championship.
“Bill’s two state championships in high school offered a glimmer of the incomparable run of pure team accomplishment to come: twice an NCAA champion; captain of a gold-medal-winning US Olympic team; 11 times an NBA champion; and at the helm for two NBA championships as the first black head coach of any North American professional sports team,” the family statement continued.
“Along the way, Bill earned a string of individual awards that stands unprecedented as it went unmentioned by him. 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.’
“Bill’s wife, Jeannine, and his many friends and family thank you for keeping Bill in your prayers. Perhaps you’ll relive one or two of the golden moments he gave us, or recall his trademark laugh as he delighted in explaining the real story behind how those moments unfolded. 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. That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6.”
The Celtics issued a statement lauding Russell and his contribution to both the team and the sport as a whole.
“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 statement read.
“Bill Russell’s DNA is woven through every element of the Celtics organization, from the relentless pursuit of excellence, to the celebration of team rewards over individual glory, to a commitment to social justice and civil rights off the court. Our thoughts are with his family as we mourn his passing and celebrate his enormous legacy in basketball, Boston, and beyond.”
'Top of our Mount Rushmore': Why Bill Russell is a Boston legend
03:52 - Source: CNN
Fellow NBA legend Michael Jordan – widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time – said, “Bill Russell was a pioneer – as a player, as a champion, as the NBA’s first Black head coach and as an activist. He paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me. The world has lost a legend. My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also shared his condolences.
“Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports,” Silver said in a statement. “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.
“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league. 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. Through the taunts, threats and unthinkable adversity, Bill rose above it all and remained true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.”
CNN’s Homero de la Fuente contributed to this report.
The most titled basketball player in NBA history has died
The most titled basketball player in NBA history has died
Eleven-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, Bill Russell, has died at the age of 88, Russell's official Twitter page announced this. RIA Novosti Sport, 07/31/2022
2022-07-31T21: 23
2022-07-31T21: 23
2022-07-31T22: 17
Basketball
Basketball
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MOSCOW, July 31 - RIA Novosti. Eleven-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, Bill Russell, has died at the age of 88, according to Russell's official Twitter page. Russell played center and was one of the first black players in the NBA. Entire 13-year NBA career (1956 - 1969), he played for Boston, from 1966 to 1969 he was the team's playing head coach, becoming a two-time NBA champion, being both a player and coach. Russell also became the first black head coach in the NBA. Russell was named the MVP of the NBA regular season five times and was a 12-time All-Star. As a coach, Russell also worked with the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings clubs. As part of the US team, he became the Olympic champion at the Games-1956 in Melbourne. Russell is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and as a coach, as well as into the International Basketball Federation Hall of Fame as a player. He shares with hockey player Henri Richard the record for the most championship titles won by an athlete in one of the North American sports leagues. Since 2009, the NBA Finals MVP has been named after Russell.
Basketball, International Basketball Federation, NBA
MOSCOW, July 31 - RIA Novosti. Eleven-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics Bill Russell has died at the age of 88, according to Russell's official Twitter page.
"It is with a very heavy heart that we would like to convey to all friends, fans and followers that Bill Russell passed away peacefully today at the age of 88," the message reads.
Russell played center and was one of the first black players in the NBA. Throughout his 13-year NBA career (1956-1969) he played for Boston, from 1966 to 1969 he was the team's playing head coach, becoming a two-time NBA champion, being both a player and coach. Russell also became the first black head coach in the NBA.
Russell was named MVP of the NBA five times and was a 12-time All-Star. As a coach, Russell has also worked with the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings.
As a member of the US team, he became the Olympic champion at the 1956 Games in Melbourne.
Russell is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach, and is inducted into the International Basketball Federation Hall of Fame as a player. He shares with hockey player Henri Richard the record for the most championship titles won by an athlete in one of the North American sports leagues. Since 2009of the year, the NBA Finals MVP award is named after Russell.
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American basketball great William "Bill" Russell dies at the age of 89 in Mercer Island, Washington. The 208-centimeter and 98-pound center entered the history of the National Basketball Association not only as a superstar, but also as a person who changed the game in many ways.
Russell was a real winner. And this was confirmed on the floor. In his 13 years in the world's strongest league with the Boston Celtics, he won 11 league titles, twice as a player-coach.
The center changed basketball by shifting the focus of the game of the best teams in the world from exclusively attacking their own half of the court. He was a mighty athlete, averaging 15.1 points per game throughout his career (and 16.2 in the playoffs) himself, but his trump card was defensive performance. Center "Boston", without exaggeration, was afraid of the entire league.
Russell changed basketball and tried to change the world around him. Throughout his life, he faced a huge amount of racial abuse, he and his black teammates were booed in the stands, refused to be accepted in hotels and served in restaurants, to which he responded with militant sincerity and intransigence.
Since his retirement, Russell has been a coach, a social activist, a book writer, a Ph.D. from Harvard, and was named the top athlete in American history by Sports Illustrated. At 19In 1956, as a member of the US team, he won the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
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Bill Russell with award after All Star BKB game in Detroit Bill Russell hugs teammate Bob Cousy in the locker room of Boston after the Celtics won their fifth straight NBA championship by beating the Lakers in Los Angeles, 1963 Bill Russell (right) signing a contract with the NBA Boston Celtics at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, 1956 USA team captain Bill Russell shakes hands with Janis Krumins of the USSR national team after playing in Melbourne during the Summer Olympics, Australia, 1956 year. The US team beat the USSR team with a score of 85-55. Bill Russell in the hot tub after a Boston Celtics workout at the University of San Francisco Gym, California, December 31, 1963 Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Garden, April 26, 1965 Bill Russell with his girlfriend, future wife Rose Swisher at the parade in San Francisco after winning the NCAA basketball championship, March 25, 1955, Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics holds his coach Red Auerbach under the shower after they beat the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 95–93 to win their eighth consecutive National Basketball Association championship at Boston Garden, April 28, 1966 USF coach Bill Munger examines Bill Russell's injured leg during the competition, San Francisco, 1956 Bill Russell receives Player of the Year award from National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Walter Kennedy during halftime at Boston Garden, 1964 Bill Russell smiles as he announces he has been appointed coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team, April 18-1966 Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell at the unveiling of a statue in his honor at Boston City Hall Square in Boston, Massachusetts, 2013 Russell adored the Celtics, but for most of his life was in extremely strained relations with Boston residents, whom he considered racists. He agreed to come to the ceremony of removing his number from circulation only when the club decided to hold it before the fans were launched into the stands, and he did not appear at all for his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In the photo: US President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to basketball star William Russell at the White House, Washington, 2011 the MVP of the final playoff series in his name. Russell became the MVP of the entire NBA five times, although he got into the symbolic team of the season only three times: there were stronger centers in the league, but there was no player so valuable to his team. What you didn't know about "Kin-dza-dza!" -- stories and rare photos from the filming of the film Model from Orenburg won the Miss Russia contest Real quotes by Jason Statham The best sports photos of 2022
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In college, the 6-foot 9-inch (2.06-metre) Russell blossomed, providing a defensive presence that helped lead USF to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in 1955 and 1956. In addition, he was a high-level sprinter and high jumper on USF’s track-and-field team (Wilt Chamberlain, his future archrival, also excelled at track and field up until his pro basketball career). In 1956 Red Auerbach—the Celtics’ head coach and general manager—targeted Russell in the NBA draft, seeing the solution to his team’s shortcomings. Once again, there was an element of chance involved: Auerbach had never seen Russell play and instead had to rely on the word of a trusted peer. 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. So the Celtics traded centre Ed Macauley and the rights to guard-forward Cliff Hagan, who had yet to play in the NBA owing to his military service, to the St.
Louis Hawks shortly after the Hawks used the second overall pick of the draft to select Russell. Both Macauley and Hagan would eventually land in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an indication of how highly Auerbach valued Russell.
Russell would not stand for racism in sports, which was ironic, given Boston’s historical notoriety in that department.
In 1964 they became the first team in the NBA to start an all-Black lineup. Auerbach’s lineup came out of necessity; he was notoriously indifferent to social causes and the opposing backlash. It was, however, a milestone made possible by Russell’s performance and larger significance. When Auerbach retired after the Celtics won the 1965–66 NBA title, Russell succeeded him as coach. Granted, it was in part because no one could deal with the moody Russell except Russell himself, but it still made him the first African American coach in NBA history, as well as the first to win a title when Boston took the 1967–68 championship. Russell took home one more championship before hanging up his sneakers for good in 1969. He had made great strides within the game of basketball, but the restless, conscientious Russell felt that there were bigger battles to fight. After his retirement, he served as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (1973–77) and the Sacramento Kings (1987–88), served as a commentator on television broadcasts of NBA games, and continued to remain active in social causes.
His autobiography, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man (cowritten with Taylor Branch), was published in 1979. Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
His calling card was defense, rebounding, and—above all else—shot blocking, which he transformed into a fluid athletic art in the same way that some of his contemporaries had altered the perception of what was possible on offense. Before his arrival, the Celtics had been a shot-happy, nearly out-of-control team, led by passing wizard Bob Cousy. What Russell did was close the circuit, creating turnovers that allowed Boston to get back on offense even faster, as well as patrol the paint with an intensity that single-handedly compensated for the Celtics’ imbalance. Over the years, Russell’s approach became the team’s overall philosophy as athletic players who saw defense as a means to key the fast break were introduced into the roster. The Celtics dynasty retooled over the years between 1956 and 1969, but the one constant was Russell. He defined the team’s philosophy and its strategy. But above all else, Russell was basketball’s ultimate winner.
Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon.” 
As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher – both as a player and as a person,” he said. 
” 
That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6.” 
Our thoughts are with his family as we mourn his passing and celebrate his enormous legacy in basketball, Boston, and beyond.” 
Through the taunts, threats and unthinkable adversity, Bill rose above it all and remained true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.” 
img.ria.ru/images/07e6/07/ 1f/1806289029_0:198:3000:1886_1920x0_80_0_0_eb84d4509144e5ed3431692de1c17026.jpg 
He shares with hockey player Henri Richard the record for the most championship titles won by an athlete in one of the North American sports leagues. Since 2009, the NBA Finals MVP has been named after Russell. 
xn-p1ai/AWARDS/ 
Russell also became the first black head coach in the NBA. 
.. 07:18 
The US team beat the USSR team with a score of 85-55. Bill Russell in the hot tub after a Boston Celtics workout at the University of San Francisco Gym, California, December 31, 1963 Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Garden, April 26, 1965 Bill Russell with his girlfriend, future wife Rose Swisher at the parade in San Francisco after winning the NCAA basketball championship, March 25, 1955, Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics holds his coach Red Auerbach under the shower after they beat the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 95–93 to win their eighth consecutive National Basketball Association championship at Boston Garden, April 28, 1966 USF coach Bill Munger examines Bill Russell's injured leg during the competition, San Francisco, 1956 Bill Russell receives Player of the Year award from National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Walter Kennedy during halftime at Boston Garden, 1964 Bill Russell smiles as he announces he has been appointed coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team, April 18-1966 Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell at the unveiling of a statue in his honor at Boston City Hall Square in Boston, Massachusetts, 2013 Russell adored the Celtics, but for most of his life was in extremely strained relations with Boston residents, whom he considered racists.
He agreed to come to the ceremony of removing his number from circulation only when the club decided to hold it before the fans were launched into the stands, and he did not appear at all for his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In the photo: US President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to basketball star William Russell at the White House, Washington, 2011 the MVP of the final playoff series in his name. Russell became the MVP of the entire NBA five times, although he got into the symbolic team of the season only three times: there were stronger centers in the league, but there was no player so valuable to his team. What you didn't know about "Kin-dza-dza!" -- stories and rare photos from the filming of the film Model from Orenburg won the Miss Russia contest 
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