R.I.P. Bill Russell

Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics center who had an unparalleled record of winning championships, died on July 31st, 2022. He was 88 years old.

Before he even got to the NBA, Russell had made a habit of winning championships. He led the University of San Francisco to NCAA basketball titles in 1955 and 1956. During his career at USF, Russell averaged 20.7 points and 20.3 rebounds per game. He also was the captain of the U.S. Gold Medal winning basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Russell was drafted with the second pick in the 1956 NBA draft by the then St. Louis Hawks. Boston coach Red Auerbach was interested in Russell, but the Hawks had a higher draft pick. Auerbach traded center and St. Louis native Ed Macauley and forward Cliff Hagan to the Hawks for Russell.

Because the Olympics had been held in November and December in southern hemisphere Australia, Russell didn’t make his Celtics debut until December of 1956. In 48 games, he led the NBA in rebounds per game with 19.6, while averaging 14.7 points per game. Russell would always be known for his tenacious defense, which included blocked shots, although, that was not an NBA statistic until after he had retired.

Boston won the NBA championship in that 1956-57 season. In ’57-58, the Celtics made it to the NBA Finals before losing to St. Louis. That season, Russell won the first of his five NBA Most Valuable Player Awards. The Celtics then won eight straight NBA titles from 1958-59 through 1965-66.

Auerbach retired as coach after the ’65-’66 season, and Russell was named as player coach for ’66-’67, the first Black coach in the NBA. The Celtics lost in the Division Finals in ’66-’67, but returned to the top with NBA titles in both 1967-68 and 1968-69. Russell retired after that last championship, which was his 11th in 13 seasons.

Russell averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game in regular season games during his career. He averaged 24.9 rebounds per game in the playoffs, still an NBA record. He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and as a coach. He is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.