William (Bill) Felton Russell died on 31 July 2022. He was 88 years old.
It’s hard to compare different generations of NBA players. When Bill Russell played, the NBA was dominated by centers because there wasn’t a 3-point shot. Today, the NBA is dominated by shooting guards.
It’s even more challenging trying to compare athletes who played in different professional sports. Nevertheless, no professional athlete won more championships in his sport than Bill Russell. In college, he won two NCAA basketball championships and then an Olympic Gold medal in Basketball. The latter occurred in 1956 before professional athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics. Russell was even a world-class high jumper in college when track and field were huge.
In the 13 years after college, Russell won 11 NBA Championships, including eight in a row. Both are records. He revolutionized the NBA with his defense and winning ways. However, Bill Russell stands above all others because he is the only professional athlete who won two championships as a player and coach simultaneously. That distinction is why Bill Russell is the ultimate GOAT in all professional sports. Not only was he the head coach of the championship 1968 and 1969 Boston Celtics, but he was also the team’s only coach.
For those who weren’t around when Russell played, I recommend you check out one of the most famous NBA games of all time – namely game seven of the 1969 NBA Championship. You can see its highlights on YouTube (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2AGB7SrvK8). In that game, the Russell-led Celtics beat one of the greatest NBA teams of all time, led by Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West.
Nearly every year in the 60s, the Lakers would win the west division of the NBA, and the Celtics would win the east. Eventually, they would meet up in the finals, where the Celtics always won in the Russell era. The owner of the Lakers, Jack Kent Cook, was so tired of his team losing to the Celtics that he spent a considerable amount of money to assemble one of the greatest star-studded teams the NBA has ever seen. The 1968-1969 Lakers had a 55-27 record and finished first in the west. Wilt Chamberlain was the best offensive player the NBA has ever seen. He averaged >30 points a game during his career. Wilt even scored 100 points in an NBA game against the Knicks.
In the 1968-1969 season, the core Celtics were showing their age. KC Jones and Bob Cousy had retired, and the only player in his prime was the team’s sixth man, John Havlicek. The Celtics finished fourth in the NBA’s Eastern Division in the 1968-1969 season and barely made the playoffs. Nevertheless, they were still the reigning NBA champs.
The Celtics won their initial playoff series against the Philadelphia 76s and then against the New York Knicks. Likewise, the Lakers won their initial playoff series against the San Francisco Warriors and then the Atlanta Hawks. These scenarios set the stage for the much anticipated Celtics-Lakers NBA 1969 finals. The games in that series went back and forth, with both teams winning three. Because the Lakers had the better regular season record, game seven was played in Los Angeles. It became known as the famous balloon game. Jack Kent Cook was so confident his team would finally beat the Celtics that he placed hundreds of balloons in nets hanging in the Forum’s ceiling. The plan was for the USC band to serenade the crowd with the song “Happy Days are Here Again” once the Lakers won the game. After that occurred, the Lakers intended to release the mass of balloons onto the court and LA fans. The problem was that the Celtics player Sam Jones discovered the plan. In his pregame locker-room talk, Bill Russell told his teammates there was no way the Celtics would lose the game. Of course, the Lakers never released their balloons. Russell and Jones retired just days after the balloon game, thereby going out as winners.
In a Sports Illustrated interview in the 60s, Bill Russell discussed what it takes to be a winner in a team sport and life in general. For him, it wasn’t about individual statics. Instead, it was about teamwork, desire, mutual respect, and mental toughness. For Russell’s Celtics, the sum of its parts always exceeded that of its individuals. Bill Russell was color blind regarding his team and what was needed to win. As an impressionable teenager, I embraced that philosophy. In my professional career, I always emphasized that whatever successes my group of scientists and collaborators achieved were based on teamwork, hard work, and mutual respect.
Unfortunately, Bill Russell grew up in an America that was even more racially divided in the 50s and 60s than today. As a result, African Americans were often mistreated. Once his basketball career was over, Bill Russel became a leader in the civil rights movement. Alongside Dr. King, he participated in the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. Bill Russell also defended Muhammad Ali when he refused to serve in the military during the Vietnam war based on his religious beliefs. Bill Russell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 for his civil rights work rather than for his basketball achievements.
I met Bill Russell twice. He had an infectious smile and could tell some great stories. Having said that, he was a complex, private, and reclusive man. When his number was retired, he insisted the banner be raised in the Boston Garden without any of his fans present. Like many, I wanted to be there, but he wouldn’t allow it. Yet, even at the end of his life, Bill Russell went out a winner. In that regard, he auctioned off last year much of his NBA memorabilia (including two of his eleven Championship Rings). Significant portions of the auction’s proceeds were donated to MENTOR (a non-profit group that connects young people with adults who can help them with career opportunities) and to Boston Celtics United for Social Justice.
Rest in peace, Goat Russell. You were my hero growing up. Since you mentored many, it’s appropriate that you’re acknowledged in this educational addition of Northend Agent’s.
Richard Stevens, Ph.D.
Professor (Emeritus)
Dept. Med., Harvard Med. Sch.
Boston, MA
