Basketball immortal Bill Russell famously blazed a trail in sports and on the court. But also in civil rights.
Russell, who died July 31 at the age of 88, is lauded as one of the greatest winners — if not the single greatest winner — in team sports. Russell was not the highest individual scorer. But his teams won, again and again and again. The difference was Russell.
Russell's Boston Celtics team won 11 titles in 13 seasons. That streak included eight straight titles.
He won his final two National Basketball Association (NBA) titles when he became the first Black head coach in a major American sports league. He won two national collegiate championships. And he earned an Olympic gold medal in 1956. "Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
Bill Russell: Elevated Teammates' Play
Russell's willingness to sacrifice personal achievements for team victories is one secret to his success. "The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd made my teammates play," Russell wrote in his 1979 memoir.
He was a key contributor to upgrading the game itself. His smarts, leaping ability, and positioning helped lead the way in transforming basketball from a plodding sport whose participants intentionally kept both feet on the floor of the court into a fast-paced, airborne spectacle played above the rim.
Fittingly, the NBA Finals MVP trophy is named in his honor.
Civil Rights Champion
Russell, though, was also a champion of civil rights.
Shot-blocker extraordinaire on the basketball court, Russell repeatedly stepped up to swat down racist mistreatment of African Americans.
He did so knowing that his actions could hurt his career and popularity. The hostility he triggered in some was personified by a burglar who broke into Russell's suburban Boston home, painted racist graffiti on a wall, smashed trophies and defecated in his bed.
Still, Russell stood up for civil rights. Before a 1961 exhibition game in Lexington, Ky., against the St. Louis Hawks, a waitress at a coffee shop refused to serve teammates "Satch" Sanders and Sam Jones. Russell joined Sanders and Jones, two additional Celtics and two Hawks in an unprecedented boycott of the game.
Back in Boston, Russell told reporters, "Negroes are in a fight for their rights — a fight for survival — in a changing world. I am with these Negroes," according to a book by Gary Pomerantz.
In 1963, he trooped near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington, whose highlight was King's "I Have A Dream" speech.
Support For Muhammad Ali
In 1967, Russell joined a high-profile meeting by prominent Black athletes to publicize their support of boxer Muhammad Ali. Russell and the other participants knew they risked being ripped by the public backlash that Ali faced for his refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War. He had been stripped of his titles. And he was being threatened with criminal charges and jail time.
The group met in Cleveland. It was called together by Jim Brown, who had just retired from the National Football League (NFL). Attendees included Russell and UCLA basketball center Lewis Alcindor (who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
Bill Russell Risked His Life
On some occasions, taking a stand put Russell's very life on the line. In the summer of 1964 he went to Mississippi with Marvin Gilmore, a friend who was active in the Boston branch of the NAACP.
The main idea was to test enforcement of the Civil Rights Act, which had been enacted just days earlier. Russell and Gilmore would seek service at restaurants and hotels. Refusal to serve the African Americans was supposed to trigger federal enforcement action.
It was a dangerous game of chicken. And some people in the Magnolia State threatened the duo. Russell would be in harm's way on additional occasions while conducting integrated basketball clinics for youths and driving to and from those events. Further, the duo traveled to meet with local civil rights activists.
When Gilmore and Russell drove, they avoided ambushes by switching cars. They also took roundabout routes. "We made random turns to see if anyone followed us," Gilmore told Investor's Business Daily.
Traveling At Night
As often as possible, the duo and their local contacts traveled at night to community meetings. That made it harder for ambushers to spot them exiting their hotel. It also helped Russell and Gilmore see headlights of any car tailing them.
Still, gun-toting vigilantes near their hotel in Jackson, Miss., hollered threats. Strangers rattled their hotel room doorknobs. At night, Russell and Gilmore took turns as sentries.
"Bill slept part of the night and I kept watch, then I slept while Bill listened and watched out," said Gilmore, who is a World War II veteran, businessman and civic leader in Boston.
One night in Jackson, Gilmore, Russell and three priests tried to enter a restaurant. On the sidewalk, a man shoved a gun into Gilmore's belly. He said, "N*****, don't move or I'll kill you!"
Gilmore's group retreated, preferring to live and campaign another day.
Also in 1964, Russell and other stars leveraged their clout by threatening not to play in the NBA All-Star Game unless the league recognized the players' union and provided them with a pension.
Now, the NBA union is arguably the most powerful in all of professional sports.
Bill Russell Boosted Activists
Russell showed the way for later activists. He also boosted them even after his playing days.
In 2017, when President Trump stoked rage against professional football players like Colin Kaepernick who knelt during the national anthem before games in protest against police brutality, Russell posted a Twitter picture of himself kneeling. He was wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him by President Barack Obama in 2011.
In 2019, Russell took to Twitter again, this time to celebrate the final day of Black History Month. Showing support for Kaepernick, Russell wore a No. 7 Kaepernick jersey and tweeted, "ImwithKap."
Remember the NBA Bubble? The NBA endeavored to protect players by conducting the tail end and playoffs of its 2019-2020 season behind closed doors in Florida. Protest disrupted the bubble more than the Covid-19 pandemic. Players temporarily refused to play following the police shooting of an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisc.
Russell voiced support for the players.
As President Obama said when he presented Russell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian recognition: "Bill Russell, the man, is somebody who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men."
Challenges In Russell's Life
William Fenton Russell was born in West Monroe, La. His dad, Charles, worked in a paper mill, with scant prospects for decent pay.
After World War II began, the family relocated to Oakland, Calif., where his father landed work in a shipyard. At war's end, Russell's dad was laid off. The next year, his mother died of illness.
Already shy, Russell routinely retreated to the quiet of a local library. In high school, Russell showed more promise as a member of the track team than on the basketball court.
In fact, he received just a single scholarship offer to play college hoops. It was from the University of San Francisco. Russell described it as "a small school no one could find."
After Russell enrolled, his physical skills began to catch up to his Einsteinian grasp of basketball strategy. And after Russell led the USF Dons to two NCAA titles, hoop fans had no trouble identifying the school.
By the time he reached the pros, Russell was emerging as a shot-blocking savant. He realized he could also rely on his skyrocketing reputation for defense. Often, making an opponent too nervous to shoot was as good as an actual swatted ball. "The idea is not to block every shot," Russell said. "The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot."
The Two Sides Of Russell
Russell's public image was often that of a hard, glowering man. That was Russell the defensive intimidator. "But there were two sides to Bill," Gilmore said. "On the personal side, he was warm, easygoing, very respectful of people, very open to questions. He was very watchful. Always learning. He was very easy to get along with. And he was very good at laughing. He had that big laugh."
Russell's cackle was one of his most familiar traits.
In a recent video tribute to Russell, Celtics guard Jaylen Brown summed up Russell's social impact. Brown said, "Because of you, it is OK to be an activist and an athlete."
Bill Russell's Keys
- Led Boston Celtics to 11 NBA titles.
- Overcame: Boyhood poverty and death of mother, as well as slow-developing basketball skills.
- Lesson: "The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe you might block every shot."
