In recent days and weeks we have celebrated the baseball career of David Ortiz, Big Papi, the slugging designated hitter who led the Boston Red Sox to three World Series championships and who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 24.
Today, and for days and weeks ahead, we will remember and celebrate the life of the incomparable Bill Russell, the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics dynasty from 1957 through 1969, the greatest champion in the history of American team sports, and a man of courage and unwavering principle.
Russell died Sunday afternoon at the age of 88. His family announced his death via Twitter but disclosed neither the cause nor the location of his passing.
Big Bill, as the team’s legendary voice, Johnny Most, described 6-foot, 9-inch Russell, transformed the Celtics from NBA contender to NBA champion in his first season. And the championship beat went on for 10 of the next 12 seasons.
When Russell retired after the 1969 campaign, the Celtics had won 11 championships in his 13 seasons. They won eight consecutive titles from 1959 through 1966. They fell short in 1958, when Russell injured his foot in the finals against the St. Louis Hawks, and in 1967, when Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers were the better team for once.
Think about that for a minute. Eight titles in a row. Who does that? Nobody but the Celtics. As great as the Yankees have been through the decades, their longest championship streak was five, 1949 to 1953. The Montreal Canadiens won five straight NHL titles from 1956 to 1960.
In addition to his 11 rings, Russell was a 12-time All-Star and five-time NBA MVP. He averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds.
Russell arrived in Boston with a championship resume. Cut from his junior-high team and having played in the shadow of future baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson at McClymonds High School in Oakland, Calif., Russell took the only college scholarship offered him and crossed the bay to the University of San Francisco. All he did for the Dons was lead them to a 60-game winning streak and NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956.
As if that were not enough, Russell was captain of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team that won the gold medal at Melbourne, Australia.
In Boston, he joined a crew that included the basketball coaching genius Red Auerbach, ball-handling wizard Bob Cousy, shooting guard Bill Sharman, and the brash crew-cut forward from Holy Cross Tommy Heinsohn, who won rookie of the year in 1957. The Celtics defeated the Hawks in seven games, winning the finale in double overtime, a forgotten classic.
Russell changed mid-century basketball. He was a lean, agile center who thought defense first. He refined the art of shot-blocking, directing rejections to teammates instead of launching the ball into the crowd. He placed a premium on rebounding and quick outlet passes to start the Celtics’ vaunted fast break. His defense was so good that the other Celtics on the court could apply pressure up top because they know Big Bill had their backs down low.
He put the team first and made the players around him better. Winning was all that mattered. He cared little about his stats as long as the Celtics won.
Russell played the hero role in his epic battles with center Wilt Chamberlain, the NBA dominant scorer. Chamberlain usually won the stat battle; Russell won the game. They met in the playoffs eight times, and Russell’s team won seven. Russell was so good in the clutch that his teams never lost a winner-take-all game.
He is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach.
Bill Russell was more than a basketball star. He was such a strong leader that when Auerbach retired after the 1966 season, he named Russell as player-coach, the first Black head coach of a major sports team. Russell coached the Celtics to the NBA title in 1968 and 1969, the first Black head coach to do so.
He was a strong voice for civil rights. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., supported Muhammad Ali and his stance against the Vietnam War, and spoke out against the racism he and his family experienced in Boston.
He was a proud Black man who did not hesitate to use his position to advocate for social justice.
He was a writer, the author of two memoirs and books about his relationship with Auerbach and about leadership. During the 1969 NBA Finals he wrote a column for the Boston Globe while coaching and playing for the Celtics against Chamberlain and the Lakers.
Most of all, Bill Russell was a man who remained true to himself. He loved the Celtics and gave his all for his teammates. He did not love Boston when he played there and seldom returned after retiring. But he mellowed as he aged and in 1999 even agreed to be honored at a celebration of his career with the Celtics. In recent years he returned for various functions in Boston.
A statue of Russell stands in City Hall Plaza, a fitting location given his impact beyond the basketball court.
In this sports writing business, we learn early on never to write never. Nevertheless, I feel confident in writing that we will never see another dynasty like the Boston Celtics of the ‘50s and ‘60s — 11 titles in 13 seasons — or another multi-faceted champion like Bill Russell.
