He was born on November 2, 1957, and spent several years working for Cox Trucking. Bill Russell is survived by three children he shares with his first wife and college sweetheart, Rose Swisher. You are less. [211], Chamberlain outscored Russell 30 to 14.2 and outrebounded him 28.2 to 22.9 in the regular season, and he also outscored him 25.7 to 14.9 and outrebounded him 28 to 24.7 in the playoffs. When their family uprooted to Oakland, California, they lived in the projects. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Bill Russell and Rose with their son, William Felton Jr, in 1958, Former Boston Celtics basketball star Bill Russell alongside his daughter, Karen Kenyatta Russell, England win Women's Euro 2022 LIVE REACTION: Party at Trafalgar Square as thousands celebrate, Queen sends praise, Proud captain Williamson vows to lap up England's Euros triumph and calls on fans to go to WSL games, We should be cheering on female footie stars in the same way we support the men, Women's football will never be the same again thanks to Lionesses' extraordinary victory, Adam Peaty stunned at Commonwealth Games as Brit hero loses 100m race for first time EVER and misses medal, England's Lionesses roar with pride as they celebrate their history-making Euro 2022 triumph. [65] The teams split the first two games, but Russell went down with a foot injury in Game 3 and only returned for Game 6. [21][42] That year, Russell won high jump titles at the Central California Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) meet, the Pacific AAU meet, and the West Coast Relays (WCR). The champion marched with Martin Luther King for civil rights. When Chamberlain died in 1999, Chamberlain's nephew said that Russell was the second person he was told to call. [77] In the Eastern Division championships of the 1962 NBA playoffs, the Celtics met the Philadelphia Warriors led by Chamberlain, who averaged 50 points per game that season, and Russell did his best to slow him down. However, she was a step-mom to Russell's three children from his first marriage. He Had Three Children with His First Wife. The 88-year-old basketball icon passed away on July 31, 2022. As the son of one of Hollywood's most beloved . In the piece, she explains how she experienced such privilege in her life at times, but how she was also met with periods of intense racism and sexism. According to Opoyi, Swisher died at the age of 78 on September 11, 2014. He replied: "Yes." [5] Russell was known as one of the most clutch players in the NBA. In its announcement, the WCC stated: "The 'Russell Rule' requires each member institution to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coach position in the athletic department. [68] Both men awed onlookers with "nakedly awesome athleticism",[68] and while Chamberlain outscored Russell 30 to 22, the Celtics won 115106, and the match was called a "new beginning of basketball". Bill Russell- a pioneer of NBA, legendary player, Hall of Famer, activist, and Boston Celtics icon who had bagged five MVPs awards and 11 Championships in his career, died on July 31, 2022, due to natural reasons at his home at the age of 88. "[49], Duiring the 196869 NBA season, Russell was shocked by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, disillusioned by the Vietnam War, and weary from his increasingly stale marriage to his wife Rose; the couple later divorced. Photo: Ned Dishman Russell's impact even breached the walls of racism and segregation in that area; amazingly, some white children attended the sports learning camp. As part of the 1961 Celtics boycott, he and the other black teammates refused to play in the exhibition game and flew home, drawing a great deal of controversy and publicity. Bill Russell's family announced his demise through a statement on Sunday, July 31. My father is Bill Russell . It covered every area. Bill Russell is survived by three children: Jacob, William Russell Jr, and Karen. After the next provocation, Russell pounded Felix to the point of unconsciousness, paid a modest $25 fine, and rarely was the target of cheap fouls thereafter. [209] He was livid with Russell and saw him as a backstabber. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Click to reveal Karen Russell. Russell's 51 rebounds in a single game is the second-highest performance ever, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain's all-time record of 55. Karen has a B.A. He was born on November 2, 1957 and worked for Cox Trucking for several years. Frank Robinson, a future member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, was one of Russell's high school basketball teammates. Of the book, Bill Bradley wrote for The New York Times Book Review that "Bill Russell is a private, complex man, but on the subject of his love of Red Auerbach and his Celtic teammates, he's loud and clear. [127] On November 17, the two-time NCAA champion Russell was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. [151] He played in eleven deciding games (ten times in Game 7s, once in a Game 5) and ended with a 110 record. Boston then beat the Los Angeles Lakers 42 in the 1968 NBA Finals, giving Russell his tenth title in twelve years. After the loss, he led his grandfather through the Celtics locker rooms and the two saw the white Celtic Havlicek taking a shower next to his black teammate Sam Jones and discussing the game. I was able to separate the Celtics institution from the city and the fans. In Game 4, the Celtics were trailing by one point with seven seconds left and the Lakers had the ball until Baylor stepped out of bounds. He actually enrolled at the School of Art Institute in Chicago for a Bachelors in Design-Visual Communications upon graduating from Californias Galileo Academy of Science & Technology, just to then kickstart his career. 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. Russell held Chamberlain to a pair of field goals in the first three quarters of Game 3. [61] In Boston, both fans and journalists felt betrayed because Russell left the Celtics without a coach and a center, and he sold his retirement story for $10,000 to Sports Illustrated. He unfortunately passed away from cancer back in 2016 at the early age of 58, according to NBC News. [202] Later in Russell's career, John Havlicek said of his teammate and coach that he threw up less often than early in his career, only doing so "when it's an important game or an important challenge for himsomeone like Chamberlain, or someone coming up that everyone's touting. Bill Russell and Marilyn Nault Russel did not have children together. [94] In Game 5, Russell contributed with 12 points, 28 rebounds, and 7 assists, plus 10 blocks and 6 steals; blocks and steals became officially recorded statistics in the 197374 NBA season. [224], On September 26, 2017, Russell posted a photograph of himself to a previously unused Twitter account in which he was taking the knee in solidarity with the U.S. national anthem kneeling protests. [13], 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. Russell made himself eligible for the 1956 NBA draft. Chamberlain outscored Russell by 81 points in the series, but the Celtics walked off with a 42 series win. Powered by. [128] On May 20, 2007, Russell was awarded an honorary doctorate by Suffolk University, where he served as its commencement speaker. [67] On November 7, 1959, Russell's Celtics hosted Chamberlain's Warriors and pundits called the matchup between the best offensive and defensive centers "The Big Collision" and "Battle of the Titans". Unfortunately, though, the duo grew emotionally distant around the time his NBA playing career came to an end in 1970, leading to their divorce three years later in 1973. Brown, who gave him a high $24,000 rookie contract, just $1,000 shy of the top-earning veteran Bob Cousy.[121]. [32] Russell became one of several big men who have brought about NCAA rule changes. [25] Sports journalist John Taylor described it as a watershed event in Russell's life because he realized that basketball was his chance to escape poverty and racism, and he swore to make the best of it. Says Bill Russell: "Basketball is a game that involves a great deal of psychology. 1973. One of his highest jumps occurred at the WCR, where he achieved a mark of .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}6feet 9+14inches (2.06m);[43] at the meet, Russell tied Charlie Dumas, who would later in the year win gold in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia for the United States and become the first person to high-jump 7 feet (2.13m). It was reportedly back on January 8, 2018, that Jeannine and Bill got married in a private ceremony surrounded by loved ones, just for the union to last until his demise on July 23, 2022. [126] Russell's Rules was published in 2001, and he convinced Miami Heat superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to bury the hatchet with fellow NBA superstar and former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant and end the ShaqKobe feud in January 2006. The 11-time NBA champion is survived by his wife Jeannine and two children. [21] In delivering a eulogy for Chamberlain, Russell stated that he did not consider them to be rivals, but rather to have a competition, and that the pair would "be friends through eternity". If you were too sheltered, you might not be motivated to help others who do not have your advantages.'. [18][169] However, the NBA players who currently wore the number 6 jersey (i.e. [103], In Game 7, 15,202 Philadelphia fans witnessed a home-team 10096 defeat, making it the first time in NBA history a team lost a series after leading 31. In these eleven games, Russell averaged 18.3 points and 29.4 rebounds. He lost his mother when he was just 12 years old. K. C. Jones did not play for the Celtics until 1958 because of military service. Bill Russell's daughter Karen Russell a legal and political analyst was born Karen Kenyatta Russell on January 20, 1962, graduated from Harvard Law School and Georgetown University; she has contributed to the Huffington . They were college darlings. Born on January 20, 1962, Karen is not just Bill Sr. and Roses youngest child but also their only daughter, meaning she was ostensibly always extremely close to both her parents. [59] With the Celtics leading 125123 with one second left, the Hawks had the ball at their own baseline. Karen is very active on social media and often accompanied her father to his important events. During a conversation with students, a reporterunknown to Russellheard Russell describe Chamberlain as a malingerer and accused him of "copping out" of the game when it seemed that the Lakers would lose. Tonight, Bill Russell will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2019 ESPYs, which honor the biggest and best stars in the world of sports. 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. As for Jeannines current standing, the former competitive professional golfer with several accolades in the Canadian Womens Tour seemingly still resides in Washington, where shes trying to deal with her grief in private. When the Sixers' Hall-of-Fame guard Hal Greer inbounded, Havlicek stole the ball, causing Celtics commentator Johnny Most to scream: "Havlicek stole the ball! As a child, he witnessed how his parents were victims of racial abuse, and the family eventually moved into government housing projects to escape the daily torrent of bigotry. [5] Russell is the all-time playoff leader in total (4,104) and average (24.9) rebounds per game, he grabbed 40 rebounds in three separate playoff games (twice in the NBA Finals), and he never failed to average at least 20 rebounds per game in any of his thirteen playoff campaigns. [55] Russell's first Celtics game came on December 22, 1956, against the St. Louis Hawks, led by star forward Bob Pettit, who would go on to hold several all-time scoring records. [110] Although White became a standout Celtics player, Boston lacked an All-Star center, went 3448 in the 196970 NBA season, and failed to make it to the 1970 NBA playoffs, marking the first time since 1950 that they did not make the playoffs. Karen Russell, Jacob Russell, William Russell Jr. Rose Swisher got married to her husband, Bill Russell on 9 December 1956. her husband Basketball player Bill Russell was his college sweetheart, she got divorced from him in 1973. However, the NBA player did have children from his previous marriage. [80][81] Russell finished with a clutch performance, scoring 30 points, along with 4 assists,[82] and tying his own NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds in a 110107 overtime win. Bill was married four times and had three children with his first wife and college sweetheart Rose Swisher. He is survived by his younger brother Jacob, his baby sister Karen, the love of his life Sherrill Hansen, his son Sean Tyler Russell, and two pet dogs/fur babies, Pugsley as well as Lilly. They had three children: daughter Karen Russell and sons William Jr. and Jacob. Following Chamberlain's death in October 1999, Russell returned to prominence at the turn of the millennium. When he became player-coach in 1966, Russell bluntly said to his teammates that "he intended to cut all personal ties to other players" and seamlessly made the transition from their peer to their superior. He was one of five, along with James Naismith, Oscar Robertson, Dean Smith, and John Wooden, selected to represent the inaugural class. At the time of his death, Bill was married to his fourth wife, Jeannine. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. In his first playoff game, Russell finished with 16 points and 31 rebounds, along with 7 reported blocks, which were not yet an officially registered statistic. [26], Russell soon became noted for his unusual style of defense. Twenty million England fans go wild across the country as Lionesses WIN nerve-shredding Euro final against Germany. [57] Gottlieb protested the next day, saying that Russell played a one-man zone and goaltended numerous times, to only be called once. Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday. [34] In one incident, hotels in Oklahoma City refused to admit Russell and his black teammates while they were in town for the 1954 All-College Tournament. [98] Third choice Tom Heinsohn also said no because he did not think he could handle the often surly Russell,[98] whom he proposed as a player-coach. [53] His former USF and future Celtics teammate K. C. Jones joined him on the Olympic squad and contributed 10.9 points per game,[54] including a RussellJones combined 29 points in the finals. In the first two games, Russell ordered his players not to double-team West, who used the freedom to score 53 and 41 points in the Game 1 and 2 Laker wins. Children. [140] Russell and Bryant were spectators to a basketball game for Obama's 50th birthday at the White House tennis court. Russell's stint with the Kings was considerably shorter, his last assignment ending when the Kings went 1741 to begin the 198788 NBA season. However, not much is known about her personal life. Bill Russells daughter, Karen, was born on January 20, 1962. [30] Woolpert's choice of how to deploy his players was unaffected by their skin color. [49] He excelled at playing man-to-man defense, blocking shots, and grabbing defensive rebounds. [56] Russell never had to work part-time. [15], 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. [106], Russell and the Celtics achieved upsets over the 76ers and the Knicks to earn a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA Finals. Date Divorced. Russell's daughter, Karen, is a legal . Lakers coach Bill van Breda Kolff kept him on the bench until the end of the game, saying later that he wanted to stay with the lineup responsible for the comeback. [79] Game 7 was tied one second before the end of regular time, when Lakers guard Rod Hundley faked a shot and passed out to Frank Selvy, who missed an open eight-foot last-second shot that would have won Los Angeles the title. He married Rose Swisher on 9th December 1956, after dating her for several years. Karen Russell was born on January 20, 1962 and is a legal and political analyst. [109], For most of his career, Russell and his perennial opponent Wilt Chamberlain were close friends. [19], During World War II, the Second Great Migration began, as large numbers of blacks were moving to the West to look for work there. [1] The NBA reasoned that other centers were better all-round players than Russell but no player was more valuable to his team. At one point, the article reads, The girl [Dorothy] listed as one of lifes ambitions the chance to teach high school for mentally retarded children. [99] Russell became the first black head coach in NBA history,[5] and he commented to journalists: "I wasn't offered the job because I am a Negro, I was offered it because Red figured I could do it. [56] Russell had a more cordial relationship with many of his teammates with the notable exception of Heinsohn, his old rival and fellow rookie. He revealed that his mother died when he was 12. [189] On October 16, 2013, Russell was arrested for bringing his registered, loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to the SeattleTacoma International Airport. [65] Many observers thought that Boston could have won had Russell not been injured, but Auerbach commented: "You can always look for excuses We just got beat. Moreover, the Next Gen: #BLM founder helps clients manage, execute, as well as maintain inclusive initiatives as a freelance consultant while also helping democratic women vote full ballots as an activist. [38] Russell led the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game for the competition. [67][108] The Celtics held on for a 108106 victory and Russell claimed his eleventh championship in thirteen years. And so the Celticsall we looked for was: 'Can he play?' [56] This skill allowed the other Celtics to play their men aggressively; if they were beaten, they knew that Russell was guarding the basket. [49], Russell was considered the consummate defensive center, noted for his defensive intensity, basketball IQ, and will to win. The duo shares three children together. Bill Russell with his coach, Red Auerbach, in December 1964 after scoring his 10,000th career point in a game in Boston Garden. 6 from the University of San Francisco as well as in the 1956 USA Olympic Team. [137] Russell attended Game 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals to present Bryant the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award. [49] Despite this, the Celtics were leading only 9795 with 34 seconds left when Russell closed out the game with several consecutive clutch plays. In 2014, after the unveiling of his statue at City Hall in Boston, Russell spoke a bit about his parents and what his life was like growing up. - WILLIAM FELTON RUSSELL, WILLIAM FRANCIS McSWEENY . [5] In addition, Russell holds the NBA Finals single-game record for most rebounds (40, March 29, 1960, vs. St. Louis, and April 18, 1962, vs. Los Angeles), most rebounds in a quarter (19, April 18, 1962, vs. Los Angeles), and most consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds (15 from April 9, 1960 April 16, 1963). She works as an attorney, corporate trainer, and political strategist, according to the Huffington Post. Bill Russell Lifestyle 2021 Wife, Children, Family, Career, Net worth, Car & House-Bill Russell Regarded as one of the best ever players in the history of . [3] Russell is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. [17] Shortly after his death in 2022, the NBA retired Russell's #6 jersey league-wide, making him the only player in NBA history to receive the honor. After he graduated, the NCAA rules committee instituted a second new rule to counter the play of big men like Russell; basket interference was now prohibited. He had invested $250,000 in a rubber plantation in Liberia, where he had wanted to spend his retirement, but it went bankrupt. Thats despite the fact he personally had a merely comfortable lifestyle based in St. George, Utah as a proud truck driver at Cox Trucking, which he had truly developed an interest in early on. That's the first thing Walter Brown said to Chuck Cooper. Celtics owner Walter A. Bill Russell (left), star of the Boston Celtics, is congratulated by coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach after scoring his 10,000th point in the NBA game against the Baltimore Bullets in Boston Garden on . [4] In his USF years, Russell took advantage of his relative lack of bulk to develop a unique defensive style: instead of purely guarding the opposing center, he used his quickness and speed to play help defense against opposing forwards and aggressively challenge their shots. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. Still, there was constantly a flow of people from Louisiana that my father would let stay with us. In the 1959 NBA Finals, the Celtics recaptured the NBA title, sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers 40. [157], On August 11, 2022, it was announced that Russell's No. And in basketball I respect a man for his ability, period. She has done a lot of activist work, and her articles can be found in the New York Times Magazine, HuffPost, and many other publications. [136] During halftime of the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Celtics captains Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce presented Russell a surprise birthday cake for his 75th birthday. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. After practice, and even during practice breaks, shed encourage me. On July 31, 2022, shetweeteda series of pictures with her late father, captioned: "Keanu Reeves on death, 'I know that the ones who love us will miss us.'". The 61-year-old is a legal and political analyst who graduated from Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.. She is a media person, lawyer, and Black-rights activist who has also contributed to publications like The New York Times Magazine. [150] He also had 51 in one game, 49 in two others, and twelve straight seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. In 1987, Karen Rusell penned an article for the New York Times titled, Growing Up With Privilege and Prejudice.. . Bill Russell had all his children with Rose Swisher, his college sweetheart, when he married from 1956 to 1973. Russell Brand and Sen. Bernie Sanders are mad as hell, and they don't want you to take it anymore. [157] Russell ranked No. Bill Russell only had children with his first wife Rose; they are Karen, Jacob, and William Russell Jr. Karen Russell. Woolpert emphasized defense and deliberate half-court play, which favored Russell's exceptional defensive skills. [28], Russell was ignored by college recruiters and received not one offer until recruiter Hal DeJulio from the University of San Francisco (USF) watched him play in a high school game.
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