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 (MOP), and captained the gold medal-winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. These victories along with his NBA championships made Russell one of only eight players in the history of men's basketball to achieve the Triple Crown. 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 went on to win their first NBA championship in 1957 and won an NBA record eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, Russell's rebounding, defense, and leadership made him one of the dominant players of his era. Standing at 6 ft tall, with a 7 ft arm span, his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' dominance.

Russell also led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds, and remains second all-time in total rebounds and first all-time in rebounds per game. 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. 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 and left his position as Celtics coach after helping the Celtics win the 1969 NBA championship.

Reader's Guide

Russell served as head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics from 1973 to 1977. He also coached the Sacramento Kings from 1987 to 1988. Russell also worked as a color commentator and authored several books. He 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 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, was named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 (being one of only four players to receive all three honors), and was 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 in recognition of 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, as well as the third person in North American major professional sports to have their jersey number retired league-wide, behind Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky.

Did You Know?

• Russell was born on February 12, 1934, in West Monroe, Louisiana.
• He was cut from his junior high basketball team and almost cut again in high school.
• Russell's high school basketball teammate was future Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.