Bill Russell 11 NBA Titles

Lore & Background

Russell played college basketball for the San Francisco Dons, leading them to consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. He was named NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player, and captained the gold medal-winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. After being chosen by the St. Louis Hawks with the second overall pick in the 1956 NBA draft, Russell was traded to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan. With Russell as their starting center and defensive anchor, the Celtics won their first NBA championship in 1957 and won an NBA record eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. A five-time NBA MVP and 12-time NBA All-Star, Russell led the NBA in rebounds four times and remains second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. During the final three seasons of his career (1966–1969), he served as player-coach of the Celtics, becoming the first black NBA coach to win a championship. Russell ended his playing career after helping the Celtics win the 1969 NBA championship.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the Boston Garden hung heavy with sweat and floor wax as the final buzzer cut through the roar. Bill Russell stood at center court, chest heaving, eyes fixed on the rafters where a twelfth banner would one day join eleven others. He didn't need to count; he felt it in the exhausted silence of his teammates and the deafening adoration of a crowd that knew they were witnessing history. Walking over to Wilt Chamberlain—the only man who had ever matched his statistical dominance—Russell offered a rare, weary nod. There was no wild celebration, just the quiet, steely satisfaction of another job executed to perfection.

Reader's Guide

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. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971, the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. In 2009, the NBA renamed the NBA Finals MVP Award in his honor. In 2011, Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2021, Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a second time for his coaching career. 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 that honor.

Did You Know?

• Russell played 13 consecutive seasons for the Celtics without missing any full seasons.
• He was the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA.
• Russell is one of only eight players in men's basketball history to achieve the Triple Crown (NCAA championship, Olympic gold, NBA championship).
• He served as head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics from 1973 to 1977 and also coached the Sacramento Kings from 1987 to 1988.