Bill Russell, NBA Legend and Hall of Famer, Dead at 88
Bill Russell, NBA Hall of Famer and legendary Boston Celtics defensive player, has died, his family confirmed on Sunday. He was 88.
Considered by many to be the greatest pro-basketball player of all time, Russell won 11 NBA championships as a player for the Celtics and two as a coach. “Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement on Sunday. “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.” Born in Louisiana in 1934, Russell discovered basketball while in high school before going on to play for the University of San Francisco. It was at USF where Russell won NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956 — the same year he scored a gold medal for Team USA at the Melbourne Summer Olympics. Later that year, Celtics coach Red Auerbach drafted Russell, and the legendary pair led the Celtics to victory for eight years straight, from 1959 to 1966. Auerbach would go on to call Russell “the single most devastating force in the history of the game.”
An announcement… pic.twitter.com/KMJ7pG4R5Z
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) July 31, 2022Russell, the first Black head coach in NBA history, was also a champion for civil rights. “From boycotting a 1961 exhibition game to unmask too-long-tolerated discrimination, to leading Mississippi’s first integrated basketball camp in the combustible wake of Medgar Evers’s assassination, to decades of activism ultimately recognized by his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010, Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo,” his family said in a statement. See more tributes to Russell below.
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. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/K0Ue0hKiLs
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 31, 2022Thank you for everything! R.I.P Legend 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/tn2iGsArav
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) July 31, 2022Today, we lost a giant.
As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher—both as a player and as a person.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 31, 2022I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of the greatest winner the game of basketball has ever seen, a legend, hall of famer, mentor and my friend for over 30 years, Bill Russell. 💔 pic.twitter.com/iiSkVq2kdn
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) July 31, 2022Bill Russell was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. Once called out of the blue because he thought I looked sad on TV…best pep talk of my life. RIP
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 31, 2022Bill Russell was a once-in-a-generation activist athlete who made all around him better. He had a career of firsts & led the way for many. I admired him my entire life & he had a huge influence on my career. He was the ultimate leader, ultimate team player & ultimate champion. pic.twitter.com/tM6C69GePz
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) July 31, 2022 Bill Russell, NBA Legend and Hall of Famer, Dead at 88ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57kWlpa2dgbHyjtculZKuto6iyrbiMp5maZZyatKa6w2aYp5xdna6tuIyonWaekaKys3nDnpidZZGpenmEjaGrpqQ%3D