Bill Russell, who became the ultimate NBA champion with Celtics, dies at 88
Former NBA star Bill Russell, whose leadership both on the basketball court and in the civil rights movement helped define an American generation, died Sunday. He was 88.
Russell won 11 championships in 13 seasons as the center for the Boston Celtics, cementing his status as the original greatest player of all time, as voted upon by the Professional Basketball Writers Association in 1980. NBA commissioner Adam Silver called Russell the “greatest champion in all of team sports,” in a statement Sunday.
Russell’s partnership with Red Auerbach became the shining example of the bond between player and coach, as well as the potential for trust and partnership across racial lines at the height of the 1960s civil rights movement.
Russell became the first Black star basketball player and the first Black coach in American professional sports when Auerbach named Russell as his replacement in 1966. He was the fifth person to be inducted to the Hall of Fame both as a player, in 1975, and a coach, in 2021.
“Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports. 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,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“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.
“For nearly 35 years since Bill completed his trailblazing career as the league’s first Black head coach, we were fortunate to see him at every major NBA event, including the NBA Finals, where he presented the Bill Russell Trophy to the Finals MVP.
“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. Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever. We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Jeannine, his family and his many friends.”
William Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, in Monroe, La. When Russell was 12 years old, his mother, Katie, passed away from kidney failure in Louisiana, and his father, Charlie Sr., brought Russell and his brother Charlie Jr. — who grew to be a successful playwright — to Detroit and then Oakland. Charlie Sr. raised them as a widower against the protests of his sisters-in-law, which was considered somewhat verboten in the 1940s.
His father sold his business and got a new job at a foundry that paid less in a week than his old business paid in a day, just so he could come home at night to raise the children.
