An American retired basketball player who used to play center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969 is named for Bill Russell. He won eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career. He is also one of seven players in history to win an NCAA Championship, an NBA Championship, and an Olympic gold medal. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' domination of the NBA during his career. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980 and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Bill Russell receives Arthur Ashe Courage Award at 2019 ESPY Awards
NBA legend Bill Russell was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the 2019 ESPY Awards. The award recognizes those who reflect the spirit, strength, and courage of tennis great Arthur Ashe, who was a vocal human rights campaigner for over three decades. Past recipients include Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and NC State coach Jimmy Valvano. Kobe Bryant presented this year's award. "I'm humbled to receive the Arthur Ashe Award," Russell said in a statement. "It is a great honor to be part of a unique group of previous recipients."
Early Life of Bill Russell
On 12th February 1934, Bill Russell was born. He was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the USA to Charles and Katie Russell, his parents. He is American by nationality and his ethnicity is Mixed. He had a difficult childhood and grew up in poverty. When he was only 12, he lost his mother. As per his education, he went to McClymonds High School where he started playing basketball. He was offered a scholarship from the University of San Francisco (USF). He was very happy to receive this scholarship as it provided him an opportunity to escape a life of poverty and racism. As of 2019, his age is 85.
Body Measurements of Bill Russell
Bill Russell is a very handsome person with black eye color and white hair color. His body build is an athletic. He has a tall height of 2.08 m or 6 ft 10 in and balanced weight of 100 Kg or 220 lbs. He has got a very charming smile on his lips attracting a lot of people towards him. There is no other information regarding his body measurements as of now. But we will try to add it soon.
Career of Bill Russell
- At USF, Bill Russell became the new starting center for coach Phil Woolpert.
- He led USF to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, including a string of 55 consecutive victories.
- Later, he was selected by the Boston Celtics during the 1956 NBA Draft because of his defensive toughness and rebounding prowess.
- He was also made the captain of the U.S. national basketball team that competed at the 1956 Summer Olympic.
- He also helped the team to win a gold medal.
- He started playing for the Celtics in the 1956-1957 season in December.
- He played 48 games with an average of 14.7 points per game and 19.6 rebounds per game.
- The Celtics were already a high-scoring team but the addition of Russell added to their strengths.
- In 1957, he finished with 16 points and 31 rebounds along with 7 blocks in his first NBA playoff game against the Syracuse Nationals.
- The Celtics managed a 108-89 victory and swept the Nationals in three games.
- The Celtics won 14 straight games at the beginning of the 1957-1958 season.
- He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player for that season.
- His amazing performance continued in the 1958-59 season where he averaged 16.7 points per game and 23.0 rebounds per game. The Celtics won 52 games which is a league record.
- The Celtics played against the Philadelphia Warriors in November 1959.
- He averaged 16.9 points and 23.9 rebounds per game in the 1960-1961 season leading his team to 57-22 record.
- The Celtics became the first team to win 60 games in a season in the followeing season and he was again voted as NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
- He scored 15.0 ppg and 24.7 rebounds per game during the 1963-64 season.
- He kept up his excellent performance during the 1964-65 season too when he helped the Celtics win a league-record of 62 games.
- The Celtic coach Red Auerbach retired before the 1966-67 season.
- He was offered the role of becoming a player-coach which he accepted making him the first African American NBA coach.
- He was growing older and tired and by the 1967-1968 season, his figures were slowly declining.
- He still made 12.5 points per game and 18.6 rebounds per game.
- He ended his playing career at the age of 35.
- He had stints as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (1973 to 1977) and Sacramento Kings (1987 to 1988) after his retirement.
- He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Suffolk University on 20th May 2007, where he served as its commencement speaker, and Russell received an honorary degree from Harvard University on June 7, 2007.
- NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award would be renamed the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award" in honor of the 11-time NBA champion on 14th February 2009.
- On 15th June 2017, he was announced as the inaugural recipient of the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Marital Status, Affairs, Wife, Children
Reflecting towards his marital life, Russell is a married man. In 1956, he married his college sweetheart Rose Swisher and the couple was blessed with three children named Karen Russell, William Jr., and Jacob. Later the couple divorced in the year 1973. He then married former Miss USA, Dorothy Anstett, a white woman, in the year 1977. Their marriage was short-lived as they divorced in the year 1980. His third marriage was to Marilyn Nault which lasted till her death in 2009. After that, there are no rumors about his dating and relationship.
Net Worth of Bill Russell
Being a successful and famous basketball player, Bill Russell has gained a lot of fortune from his career. He built his fortune as one of the greatest Boston Celtics players in NBA history. His net worth is estimated to have $10 Million as of today. But his exact salary has not been revealed yet and is in under a review. Overall, he is satisfied with his earnings and he is living a luxurious lifestyle.
