A true giant of a man on and off the court.
May you rest in peace #6 and thank you for showing us the way.
May you rest in peace #6 and thank you for showing us the way.
Celtics/NBA RIP #6 Bill Russell (1934-2022)
- Thread starter GatorMike
- Start date
Met him walking on a forest trail on Mercer Island about 20 years ago. He and his wife were together, I was with my very young sons, one of whom LOVED basketball. After passing him with a brief head nod, I told my son that he was the greatest basketball player I ever saw - I don't know if he believed me.
He was unmistakeable in person.
He was unmistakeable in person.
ON3M4N
Ignores/60 = Elite
BruinsFanSince94
The Perfect Fan ™
Bob Cousy remembers teammate Bill Russell: ‘He fought the good fight’ - The Boston Globe
Cousy, whose 94th birthday is Aug. 9, and 83-year-old Sanders are the last living Hall of Famers who played with Russell, whose arrival with the Celtics changed them from contenders to unparalleled champions.
www.bostonglobe.com
“My old friend, Russ, beat me to it,” said Cousy, days shy of his 94th birthday (Aug. 9) and on the receiving end of many sad calls lately. “He got there first. I got a hunch I’m going to be seeing him shortly. I don’t want to be morbid, but I’m not signing up for the marathon these days. At 88, I suppose we expect it.
“Russell goes down as the best winner ever in American team sports. That’s pretty significant and that’s never going to change. He fought the good fight, obviously, on the floor, but he fought the good fight off the floor, fighting racism all his life. Sticking his tongue out at the opponent. That’s not easy to do.
“People give up things to take a stand, and Russell simply never cared. Jocks generally worry about their image after they’ve had a successful career and they’re all very careful as to what they say and how they approach every issue. Most of them are very circumspect and have people that advise them. Russell just let it flow. He spoke out against racism in every form and I’m sure he’s happier for that now.”
“In my judgement, Boston doesn’t make enough of what that group accomplished in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It’s something that will never be done again in American team sports. It’s spectacular and singular,” said Cousy. “Eleven championships in 13 years. Given what teams go through to win a Stanley Cup or a World Series or Super Bowl, they do it twice and they burn down cities and celebrate all week. We did it 11 times in 13 years and Russ is the center point of that.
“We had eight Hall of Famers and, despite what (J.J.) Redick thinks of players from that time being firefighters or plumbers, the competition was tough. Today’s jock is better, bigger, stronger. Of course they are. But whatever the skill level was in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when it was more concentrated [with fewer teams], that made it more difficult to win. Eleven out of 13, and it should have been 12 if Russ doesn’t stub his toe against St. Louis in 1958. He’s the cornerstone.”
“I thought a lot about our relationship over the years. We didn’t handle it. We just let it sit. We weren’t buddy-buddy. We didn’t go out,” said Cousy. “I’m close today with Satch [Sanders]. I maintained a relationship with Sam Jones to some degree. And with K.C. [Jones]. But Russ was not the kind of guy you got close to easily. He came to Boston with a chip on his shoulder and none of us knew how to handle it. We were intimidated by him. We were kind of frightened by him and we didn’t reach out. And that book, ‘The Last Pass,’ was my response, 60 years later, for not reaching out. I had regrets and would have done it differently.”
“Satch always says, ‘Don’t look over your shoulder. You’ll seem them gaining on you,’ " said Cousy. “So I’m more and more aware of that every time the phone rings and I get news like this. But I’m a realist. I’m ready for the big basketball court in the sky.”
Here come the tears againBob Cousy remembers teammate Bill Russell: ‘He fought the good fight’ - The Boston Globe
Cousy, whose 94th birthday is Aug. 9, and 83-year-old Sanders are the last living Hall of Famers who played with Russell, whose arrival with the Celtics changed them from contenders to unparalleled champions.
“My old friend, Russ, beat me to it,” said Cousy, days shy of his 94th birthday (Aug. 9) and on the receiving end of many sad calls lately. “He got there first. I got a hunch I’m going to be seeing him shortly. I don’t want to be morbid, but I’m not signing up for the marathon these days. At 88, I suppose we expect it.
“Russell goes down as the best winner ever in American team sports. That’s pretty significant and that’s never going to change. He fought the good fight, obviously, on the floor, but he fought the good fight off the floor, fighting racism all his life. Sticking his tongue out at the opponent. That’s not easy to do.
“People give up things to take a stand, and Russell simply never cared. Jocks generally worry about their image after they’ve had a successful career and they’re all very careful as to what they say and how they approach every issue. Most of them are very circumspect and have people that advise them. Russell just let it flow. He spoke out against racism in every form and I’m sure he’s happier for that now.”
“In my judgement, Boston doesn’t make enough of what that group accomplished in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It’s something that will never be done again in American team sports. It’s spectacular and singular,” said Cousy. “Eleven championships in 13 years. Given what teams go through to win a Stanley Cup or a World Series or Super Bowl, they do it twice and they burn down cities and celebrate all week. We did it 11 times in 13 years and Russ is the center point of that.
“We had eight Hall of Famers and, despite what (J.J.) Redick thinks of players from that time being firefighters or plumbers, the competition was tough. Today’s jock is better, bigger, stronger. Of course they are. But whatever the skill level was in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when it was more concentrated [with fewer teams], that made it more difficult to win. Eleven out of 13, and it should have been 12 if Russ doesn’t stub his toe against St. Louis in 1958. He’s the cornerstone.”
“I thought a lot about our relationship over the years. We didn’t handle it. We just let it sit. We weren’t buddy-buddy. We didn’t go out,” said Cousy. “I’m close today with Satch [Sanders]. I maintained a relationship with Sam Jones to some degree. And with K.C. [Jones]. But Russ was not the kind of guy you got close to easily. He came to Boston with a chip on his shoulder and none of us knew how to handle it. We were intimidated by him. We were kind of frightened by him and we didn’t reach out. And that book, ‘The Last Pass,’ was my response, 60 years later, for not reaching out. I had regrets and would have done it differently.”
“Satch always says, ‘Don’t look over your shoulder. You’ll seem them gaining on you,’ " said Cousy. “So I’m more and more aware of that every time the phone rings and I get news like this. But I’m a realist. I’m ready for the big basketball court in the sky.”
PatriceBergeronFan
Registered User
The man won 11 rings in 13 years - the 2 he didn't win he was injured.
Troublesome 85
Proud Girl Dad
One of my favorite episodes
Kramer being a criminal kingpin is hilarious tho
Kramer being a criminal kingpin is hilarious tho
vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2007
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- 16,283
canucks fan coming in peace
all time greatest of greats human being. i admired absolutely everything about the great bill russell and was very sad not to see him handing out the finals mvp the last three years.
i’m truly sorry for your loss.
all time greatest of greats human being. i admired absolutely everything about the great bill russell and was very sad not to see him handing out the finals mvp the last three years.
i’m truly sorry for your loss.
flowers have been placed near the Russell statue:
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Bill Russell played 21 winner take all games - He was 21-0
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Mike C
Registered User
Back to back College Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal as well!
He was the Babe Ruth of basketball
Did much of this during the age of segregation and open hatred towards blacks
What he and other players went through was vile and wrong and a whole lot more.
I hope people realize that through fighting for civil rights and other injustices he educated generations of Celtics fans and taught us to be open and inclusive and stand up for each other. His legacy on the court will never be matched but it is his legacy off the court that will live on forever.
I truly hope the city honors him the way he should have been when he was with us.
Mike C
Registered User
Paved the way for Black coaches in NBA
Always liked how Auerbach took up for him. Told everyone "there are 2 sets of rules. One for Russell and one for the rest of yas"
Mike C
Registered User
Guys like Jordan and LeBron and Kobe pale in comparison to Russell. They are just guys with immense talent who make nobody around them better
Bill, Magic and Bird, Frazier. Guys like that are the GOATS
Winners supreme. Sacrificed parts of their game for the best team interests. Made everyone around them better. People don't understand Russell averaged 14 a game and could have averaged 24 or more, just didn't have to
Turns out Bill Russell was 22-0 in a winner take all game
At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all final 4 for gold after the group stage.
In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career.
That adds up to 21-0, but it's incomplete.
In the '66 playoffs, the Celtics won Game 5 in the best-of-5 series with Cincinnati, so Bill Russell was actually 22-0 in winner-take-all-games.
Ask yourself this question.
How many of the 11 titles the Celtics won between 1957 and 1969 do they win without him?
At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all final 4 for gold after the group stage.
In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career.
That adds up to 21-0, but it's incomplete.
In the '66 playoffs, the Celtics won Game 5 in the best-of-5 series with Cincinnati, so Bill Russell was actually 22-0 in winner-take-all-games.
Ask yourself this question.
How many of the 11 titles the Celtics won between 1957 and 1969 do they win without him?
08SeaBass08
Maybe next year.
In my early teens, I was completely obsessed with the Celtics, and read every book about and/or by anyone involved. Russell's autobiography, Go Up For Glory, was really influential and I had the chance to talk with him about it when I was around 15. My dad always let me go into the games early to try and get autographs courtside (he'd go buy socks at Hilton's Tent City) and Russell was there with CBS. He probably talked to me alone for five minutes, a little bit about basketball and the Celtics, but mostly about the parts of the book that really hit me the most. No autograph (OF COURSE!), but a most incredible and cherished moment I'll never forget. Just an incredible human being, as well as being the most influential and best basketball team player in the history of the game.
