Bill Russell, R.I.P.

Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell passed away today of natural causes. He was 88.

The Louisiana born Russell initially struggled with basketball when he started playing it in junior high school in Oakland, California. But Russell dedicated himself and played well enough in his senior year to earn a spot playing at the collegiate level at the University of San Francisco. Russell would lead the team to back to back NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956 and was the captain of the U.S. Olympic basketball team which would win the Gold at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. 

While Russell wasn't a big scorer, he was without peer when it came to defense whether it was man to man or blocked shots. He was also an incredible rebounder. The only player who rebounded better than Russell was his friend and rival Wilt Chamberlain. While Chamberlain had greater offensive stats, Russell led his teams to championships. In Russell's 13 years with the Celtics, they would win 11 NBA titles including eight consecutive titles between 1959 and 1966. When the Celtics won the NBA Title in 1968 and 1969, Russell was also the team's head coach having succeeded the retiring Red Auerbach. Russell was the first African-American to be a head coach or manager in professional sports.

Sadly, Russell did not have a good relationship with the Boston media nor its fans unable to accept his African-American heritage. Russell would say that he played for the Celtics, but would not say that he played for Boston. With 11 NBA rings and 5 NBA MVPs, Russell declined to attend his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. 

Following his playing career, Russell would serve as the head coach for the Seattle Super Sonics and later the Sacramento Kings though he would not attain the success with those organizations that he did with the Celtics. Russell occasionally worked as a broadcaster and did some acting. I remember Russell appearing in a 1986 episode of Miami Vice in which he played a corrupt judge.

For his civil rights work, Russell was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011. Upon learning of his passing, Obama said, "Today, we lost a giant."

In recent years, Russell had something of a rapprochement with Boston as he was honored with a statue outside Boston City Hall in 2013.

I leave you with an interview Russell did with Dick Cavett in 1972. The two did not discuss basketball. At the time Russell was doing a talk show out in Los Angeles and discussed interviews he had with George Wallace and Lester Maddox. They also discussed Amos and Andy, All in The Family and played the word association game. R.I.P.