Topline
Bill Russell, who won a record 11 NBA championship titles during his 13-year career with the Boston Celtics and later became the league’s first Black head coach, died on Sunday at age 88.
Former Boston Celtic and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell presents the 2013 W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to … [+]
Key Facts
Russell died with his wife Jeannine by his side, his family said in a statement on Twitter, but his family did not share the cause of death.
Russell began playing for the Boston Celtics in 1956, and by the time he retired from playing professionally in 1969, he had won the NBA Championship 11 times–a record that remains unbroken–and was named the league’s most valuable player five times.
He was a vocal supporter of civil rights and social justice throughout his career, and often clashed with Boston sports fans as a result.
He served as the Celtics’ head coach for the final three years—and two championships—of his playing career, before coaching the Seattle SuperSonics and the Sacramento Kings.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Russell the “greatest champion in all of team sports” in a statement Sunday, adding that Russell stood for “something much bigger than sports” and helped entwine the values of equality, respect and inclusion “into the DNA of our league.”
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to basketball star William … [+]
Key Background
Russell was born in West Monroe, Louisiana, in 1934, when the South was still largely segregated by race. The racism he and his family faced during his childhood helped influence his attitudes in adulthood, and Russell spoke out against the racism he and other Black basketball players faced throughout his career. In 1961, after his Celtics teammates Sam Jones and Satch Sanders were denied service at a café in Lexington, Kentucky, because they were Black, Russell joined the pair and several of their Black teammates in boycotting an exhibition game scheduled against the St. Louis Hawks and flew back to Boston in protest.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/07/31/bill-russell-11-time-nba-champion-and-first-black-head-coach-dies-at-88/