Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, 11-time NBA champion, dies at 88

Guno צְבִי

Guno צְבִי

We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
RIP

Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday. The Hall of Famer was 88.

Russell died "peacefully" with his wife, Jeannine, at his side, a statement posted on social media read. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon, according to the statement.

The statement did not give the cause of death, but Russell was not well enough to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy in June because of a long illness.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...cs-great-bill-russell-11-nba-champion-dies-88
 
guno said:
RIP

Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday. The Hall of Famer was 88.

Russell died "peacefully" with his wife, Jeannine, at his side, a statement posted on social media read. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon, according to the statement.

The statement did not give the cause of death, but Russell was not well enough to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy in June because of a long illness.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...cs-great-bill-russell-11-nba-champion-dies-88
Click to expand...

He was a fucking dick

Russell for years refused to participate in the rituals of sports stardom. He famously didn't sign autographs or glad-hand with fans. In 1972, when the Celtics retired Russell's jersey number (No. 6), he refused to go along with plans for a public dedication ceremony.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/07/31/bill-russell-celtics-nba-civil-rights-obit
 
In 1975, when Russell was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he refused to attend the induction ceremony or accept a ring, in part because he felt other Black athletes deserved the honor first, and in part because he felt the Hall of Fame was a racist institution. Russell finally accepted the ring in Nov. 2019, not long after the Hall of Fame inducted Chuck Cooper, a former Celtics player and the first African American player drafted in the NBA.

Russell did not want to be worshiped or commodified. He wanted respect.

"There’s a difference between being proud and having pride," he said in an interview for an ESPN Classic documentary. "They may not like you but they have to respect you. And that’s more important. It’s more important, at least for me ... It is far more important to be respected than to be liked."

In other words, he wanted people to see him as more than a good basketball player. And he was.
 
Bill Russell was not shy about expressing his views, often in a provocative way. A native of Louisiana, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics center and 11-time NBA champion did not so much address the issue of societal racial injustice as tackle it head-on.

Once, when the Celtics were scheduled to play in an exhibition game in Lexington, Kentucky, Russell became incensed when African-American teammates Tom Sanders and Sam Jones were denied service at a local hotel coffee shop. Without missing a beat, he packed his bags and flew out of town rather than subject himself to the racial hypocrisy of the situation. Blacks were good enough to play before a local white audience but evidently not good enough to have a late night donut.

 
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guno said:
RIP

Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday. The Hall of Famer was 88.

Russell died "peacefully" with his wife, Jeannine, at his side, a statement posted on social media read. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon, according to the statement.

The statement did not give the cause of death, but Russell was not well enough to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy in June because of a long illness.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...cs-great-bill-russell-11-nba-champion-dies-88
Click to expand...

Bless his heart. May he rest in peace.
 
guno said:
In 1975, when Russell was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he refused to attend the induction ceremony or accept a ring, in part because he felt other Black athletes deserved the honor first, and in part because he felt the Hall of Fame was a racist institution. Russell finally accepted the ring in Nov. 2019, not long after the Hall of Fame inducted Chuck Cooper, a former Celtics player and the first African American player drafted in the NBA.

Russell did not want to be worshiped or commodified. He wanted respect.

"There’s a difference between being proud and having pride," he said in an interview for an ESPN Classic documentary. "They may not like you but they have to respect you. And that’s more important. It’s more important, at least for me ... It is far more important to be respected than to be liked."

In other words, he wanted people to see him as more than a good basketball player. And he was.
Click to expand...

he was a dick to his fans!

Russell, in a 1963 Sports Illustrated article, said he believed signing his name for others was a waste. Before he completely shut down autograph seekers, he said he rarely signed, and most often it was just to get rid of the fans who were asking.

https://www.sportscasting.com/bill-russell-was-tough-but-not-nearly-tough-getting-his-autograph/
 
Just to get it straight - he didn't sign autographs. Instead, he would shake their hand & talk to them.

A great, great man. Totally transcended sport.
 
volsrock said:
he was a dick to his fans!

Russell, in a 1963 Sports Illustrated article, said he believed signing his name for others was a waste. Before he completely shut down autograph seekers, he said he rarely signed, and most often it was just to get rid of the fans who were asking.

https://www.sportscasting.com/bill-russell-was-tough-but-not-nearly-tough-getting-his-autograph/
Click to expand...

Probably because he didn’t want to sign for all the racist Boston fans. Can you blame him?

Oakland legend
 
Always was interesting individual, not affair to say what was on his mind, and never felt comfortable with the sports hero role others expected him to take

Good player, deserving All Star, however, often wonder if he would have excelled to that level he did if he was on a team with a lesser supporting cast. He did play with other all stars, and had a revolutionary coach.
 
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