William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career. 

Russell and Henri Richard of the National Hockey League are tied for the record of the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Russell is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He led the San Francisco Dons to two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, and he captained the gold-medal winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Despite his limitations on offense, as Russell never averaged more than 19.0 points per game in any season, some regard him as one of the greatest basketball players of all time for his dominating defensive play. Standing at 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) tall, with a 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) arm span, his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' dominance during his career. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities, and he led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds, and remains second all time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than 50 rebounds in a game.

Russell played in the wake of black pioneers Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Sweetwater Clifton, and he was the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. He also served a three-season (1966–69) stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first black coach in North American professional sports and the first to win a championship. 

In 2011, Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments on the court and in the civil rights movement.

Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, was one of the founding inductees into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, and was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players to receive all three honors, and selected into the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. In 2009, the NBA renamed the NBA Finals MVP Award in his honor. In 2021, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a second time for his coaching career.

Early years

Family and personal life

Russell was born on February 12, 1934, to Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. Like almost all Southern towns and cities of that time, Monroe was very segregated and the Russells often struggled with racism in their daily lives. Russell's father was once refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers first. When he attempted to leave and find a different station, the attendant stuck a shotgun in his face and threatened to kill him if he did not stay and wait his turn. In another incident, Russell's mother was walking outside in a fancy dress when a white policeman accosted her. He told her to go home and remove the dress, which he described as "white woman's clothing".

During World War II, the Second Great Migration began, as large numbers of blacks were moving to the West to look for work there. When Russell was eight years old, his father moved the family out of Louisiana and settled in Oakland, California. While there, they fell into poverty and Russell spent his childhood living in a series of public housing projects.

His father was described as a "stern, hard man" who initially worked in a paper factory as a janitor, which was a typical "Negro Job"—low-paid and not intellectually challenging, as sports journalist John Taylor commented. When World War II broke out, the elder Russell became a truck driver. Russell was closer to his mother Katie than to his father, and he received a major emotional blow when she suddenly died when he was 12 years old. His father gave up his trucking job and became a steelworker in order to be closer to his semi-orphaned children. Russell stated that his father became his childhood hero, later followed up by Minneapolis Lakers superstar George Mikan, whom he met when he was in high school. In turn, Mikan would say of Russell the college basketball player: "Let's face it, he's the best ever. He's so good, he scares you."

Initial exposure to basketball

During his early years, Russell struggled to develop his skills as a basketball player. Although Russell was a good runner and jumper and had large hands, he did not understand the game and was cut from the team at Herbert Hoover Junior High School. As a freshman at McClymonds High School in Oakland, Russell was almost cut again; however, coach George Powles saw Russell's raw athletic potential and encouraged him to work on his fundamentals. Since Russell's previous experiences with white authority figures were often negative, warm words from his coach reassured him. He worked hard and used the benefits of a growth spurt to become a decent basketball player. Frank Robinson, a future member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, was one of Russell's high school basketball teammates.

Russell soon became noted for his unusual style of defense. He later recalled: "To play good defense ... it was told back then that you had to stay flatfooted at all times to react quickly. When I started to jump to make defensive plays and to block shots, I was initially corrected, but I stuck with it, and it paid off."

In an autobiographical account, Russell says that while on a California High School All-Stars tour he became obsessed with studying and memorizing other players' moves, e.g. footwork such as which foot they moved first on which play, as preparation for defending against them, which included practicing in front of a mirror at night. Russell described himself as an avid reader of Dell Magazines' 1950s sports publications, which he used to scout opponents' moves for the purpose of defending against them.

Personal life

Russell was married to his college sweetheart Rose Swisher from 1956 to 1973. They had three children: daughter Karen Russell, a television pundit and lawyer, and sons William Jr. and Jacob. The couple grew emotionally distant and divorced. In 1977, he married Dorothy Anstett, Miss USA of 1968; they divorced in 1980. 

In 1996, Russell married his third wife, Marilyn Nault; their marriage lasted until her death in January 2009. Russell was married to Jeannine Russell at the time of his death. He was a resident of Mercer Island, Washington, for over four decades. His older brother was the noted playwright Charlie L. Russell.

In 1959, Russell became the first NBA player to visit Africa. Russell was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, having been initiated into its Gamma Alpha chapter while a student at University of San Francisco. 

On October 16, 2013, Russell was arrested for bringing his registered, loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. He was issued a citation and released, and the Transportation Security Administration indicated it would levy a civil penalty, which would be between $3,000 and $7,500.

Death

Russell died peacefully with his wife by his side at his Mercer Island, Washington, home on July 31, 2022, at the age of 88.

Earnings

During his career, Russell was one of the first big earners in NBA basketball. His 1956 rookie contract was worth $24,000, only fractionally smaller than the $25,000 of top earner and teammate Bob Cousy. Russell never had to work part-time. This was in contrast to other Celtics who had to work during the offseason to maintain their standard of living; Tom Heinsohn sold insurance, Gene Guarilia was a professional guitar player, Cousy ran a basketball camp, and Red Auerbach invested in plastics and a Chinese restaurant. When Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to earn $100,000 in salary in 1965, Russell went to Auerbach and demanded a $100,001 salary, which he promptly received. For his promotion to coach, the Celtics paid Russell an annual salary of $25,000 which was in addition to his salary as a player. Although the salary was touted in the press as a record for an NBA coach, it is unclear whether Russell's continued $100,001 salary as a player was included in the calculation. Russell also had a shoe designed by Bristol Manufacturing Corporation in 1966, the Bill Russell Professional Basketball Shoe.

Personality

In 1966, The New York Times wrote that "Russell's main characteristics are pride, intelligence, an active and appreciative sense of humor, a preoccupation with dignity, a capacity for consideration once his friendship or sympathy has been aroused, and an unwillingness to compromise whatever truths he has accepted." 

In 2009, Russell wrote his paternal grandfather's motto, passed down to his father and then to him: "A man has to draw a line inside himself that he won't allow any man to cross." Russell said he was "proud of my grandfather's heroic dignity against forces more powerful than him ... he would not allow himself to be oppressed or intimidated by anyone." He wrote these words after recounting how grandfather Jake Russell had stood up to the Ku Klux Klan and other whites who attempted to thwart his efforts to build a schoolhouse for black children; his grandfather was the first person in Russell's patrilineal line born free in North America and was himself illiterate. Russell's motto became: "If you disrespect that line, you disrespect me."