Basketballography: Bill Russell

William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is an American retired professional basketball player. Russell played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty, winning eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.

[@leonardwest2623]

Bill Russell , the greatest winner !!!!

[@AntonioWhite-ef4ue]

GREATEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER AND WINNER IN NBA HISTORY!!! WINNING 11 CHAMPIONSHIPS OUT OF 13 YEARS IS A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!👍👍

[@blackpeoplespeaks]

You are a parrot

[@terencewinters2154]

Russell varied his approach to rim protecting , weakside help , took charges , got offensive goal tending violations , clean blocks, bellied up. Pulled the chair, fronted and denied, helped and recovered , stepped into the passing lane for the steal. everyone had to guess - where was Russell ? He turned blocks into tip outs or passes. He didnt try to outmuscled Wilt but he would apply it at selective times .

[@vantablack9535]

In my opinion thats why he's the GOAT : he mastered defense to the point it became an offensive scheme

[@terencewinters2154]

He is not a basketball player basketball is what he did " it is not who I am " his words . He made everyone around him better . That's leadership.

[@roberthuston7896]

PERFECT TEAM PLAYER

[@ZenBiker]

He set such a high standard as a winner during his playing days, I seriously doubt anyone will ever come close to surpassing it, and if you ever listen to this man he is a super intelligent human being.

[@charliebabbitt3314]

Amazing player and an even more amazing person....Celtics were so fortunate that the owner who owned the rights to the #1 pick the year Russell was eligible, loved the Ice Capades. You can't make this stuff up...The basketball gods were looking out for the Celtics big time.

[@Ericapires12]

"U had to make you sure ur opponent believe he can not win! This mindset is crazy!

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

Best CENTER ever

[@RayManzarekRocks]

The most o-ver-ra-ted great player in basketball history.

[@gregorybaltzer2736]

THE TEAM..Russ was the cornerstone..my favorite player of the Celtics in the 60's..let me re-visit..The Jones boys,Hondo, Satch, Bailey Howell, Heinson,Cousy,Sharman,Don Nelson,gee, must I go on..im forgetting many names, but Russ, you were the glue that kept championship dreams alive and together..

[@dominiclacoote2855]

The greatest defensive player I ever seen

[@blackpeoplespeaks]

You ain't seen shyt

[@casualfandestroyer2503]

@@blackpeoplespeaks hater

[@blackpeoplespeaks]

@@casualfandestroyer2503 and you're a whyte boi, who no one values the opinion of

[@casualfandestroyer2503]

@@blackpeoplespeaks I’m black du-my

[@blackpeoplespeaks]

@@casualfandestroyer2503 you'll say anything for the last word regardless of your emoji

[@hubertsang7418]

Great human being!

[@casualfandestroyer2503]

The goat

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

“We won the championship my rookie year. We also won the championship my last year in the league as well as 9 championships in between, that... is etched in stone” “He doesn’t hurt your offense or defense; I played games in my peak where I only had just 6 shots, but I could close out the middle of the court; the way I play my team wins” Bill Russell 11x Champion 5x League MVP 12x All Star ⭐️ All-Star MVP 1956 🥇🇺🇸 2x NCAA champion #50greatestnbaplayers

[@radar0412]

I wish every African American family would listen to Russell's first memory of being from a loving family. Russell was from a family that treated him with love and kindness and he turned into a Cold Blooded Killer on the Basketball Court. Today too many African American people believe they have to beat their Boys down to prepare them for life, and those are the boys that always find trouble, or trouble finds them. To many White family's too!

[@aChristian4RonPaul]

It's more-so the absence of a father that causes issues.

[@lilbru]

Great point

[@radar0412]

@@aChristian4RonPaul That's not entirely true. If young Black men grow up in a Two Parent Household where there's Violence, Drug use, or alcoholism in that Household, then that young Black Man will be Lost forever. Conversely If a Young Black Man grows up in a Single Mother household where the Mother is Considerate, Tolerant, and Loving then The Young Black Man can be salvaged easily.

[@aChristian4RonPaul]

@@radar0412 The reason why you say "that's not entirely true" is because it mostly is. "Two parent households" won't last long if there's "there's Violence, Drug use, or alcoholism in that Household." As to "Conversely If a Young Black Man grows up in a Single Mother household where the Mother is Considerate, Tolerant, and Loving then The Young Black Man can be salvaged easily." Yeah, if she homeschools him. But, if he's gone 8+ hours at a public school filled with hooligans and thugs, he will more than likely be learning more from his peers than from his mother. Couple that with time spent with his "friends" and the odds don't look good for him.

[@radar0412]

@@aChristian4RonPaul Kids who come from a Household where there's Love, Tolerance, Compassion, and Consideration don't run with the Thugs. It's next to impossible. And There's Lots of Single Family households like that.

[@DrJohnnyJ]

His last 17 years of competition, he could have won 17 championships (2 State high school, Olympics, 3 NCAA, 12 NBA (he was injured one year). He won 16. Only twice (as a sophomore in college and once in the NBA) did he have to congratulate the victor in 17 years. He was the only Celtic to play on all 11 Championship teams.

[@tyrusblack3766]

Awesome!

[@legendarysoldier4420]

Todays media disrespect the basketball gods everyday

[@heatcheckmixes4570]

one of the GOATS

[@kenneth7826]

Brilliant

[@farbelowtheundertow4408]

Bill Russell is the GOAT... Haters gon' hate. lol

[@casualfandestroyer2503]

Facts

[@terencewinters2154]

PETITS Tip in broke celtics streak for hawks . Relentless rebounder and great scorer BUT RUSS PERCEIVED .

[@terencewinters2154]

Only chamberlain and petit interrupted his reign .

[@vantablack9535]

So the 1962-63 season had to be the peak if im not mistaken thats the only year Cousy, Havlicek & Russell all played together

[@kingofnewyork7765]

Rip Big Bill

[@44warden]

11!!!

[@broadstreet21]

Too bad Russell just called it quits in 1969, didn't market himself more after retirement. He could have had more than $100 million by now. But he apparently wanted to call it all quits, didn't want to do anymore basketball.

[@vantablack9535]

10:53 Yea its no way he averaged any less than 5 BPG for his Career, He was hunting blocks like guys hunt 3's nowadays

[@Amick44]

Folks you wanna know what's scary? Give Bill Magic Johnson (as his PG) and they probably would lose about 5-7 games a year! NO kidding. Think about it.

[@broadstreet21]

Yup, and then try adding Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and LeBron James to that lineup - that will be the all-time NBA team. With Red Auerbach coaching them - too many Celtics, yes, but you can't deny that team would be too great.

[@vantablack9535]

Id rather see him with Bird but Magic would have his PPG go from 15 to like 22

[@BeastSquad-uq1wh]

(13:26)😢🥺 that's no beautiful

[@kouguy8213]

Bill Russell was overrated. At best, Bill Russell is the 7th overall best NBA center of all-time; behind other greats such as Wilt, Kareem, Moses, Hakeem, Shaq, and Robinson. As an athlete, he was statistically (i.e. Points, Rebounds, Assists, FG%, FT%) lower in every category compared to the best center of all-time Wilt Chamberlain. His shot percentage was awfully low for a center (44% for his career average and 45.7% for his best season in that category). He was also not a go to scorer based on his career scoring average of 15.1 ppg and season best of 18.9 ppg. I’ve done the research and have found out that the only reason he won so many championship was because he had 6-8 Hall of Fame players on each of his championship teams. Most championship teams today would be very lucky to have 2-3 HOF players on their team. Russell was the first to have a SUPER TEAM of 6-8 SUPERSTARS. Let’s get it straight, if you consider KD and LeBron a cheater then Bill Russell was the greatest cheater of all-time.

[@kentferguson3094]

King Kong 11 rings

[@Milordvega]

They won 11 of 13 seasons with him at center. They did not win before and they did not win after. (Until 5 years after he retired). He was the key.

[@realitybites629]

Afflictionzv1 Bill Russell's probably the MOST EFFECTIVE CENTER of all time,. BEST PLAYER is the MOST OVERRATED TERM in any TEAM SPORT,. it don't mean shit in a TEAM game,. You ever saw the BEST PLAYERS in the EAST teaming up in 2011 and they got their ass whooped by a bunch of old dudes? How about some of the BEST players teaming up in 2004 only to lose to a team with no best player? LOL you gotta pick that dude over any CENTER in NBA history,. just like he said "the way i play, my team wins"

[@farbelowtheundertow4408]

Bill Russell is the GOAT... Haters gon' hate. lol

[@gdm49]

No center was overrated in the 1960s. Here are 6 great centers of the 1960s. You have so much to learn, child. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZ6UXp2wpdeSnrc

[@leonardwest2623]

Bill Russell , the greatest winner !!!!