[64] Russell thus became the first black head coach in NBA history[1] and commented to journalists: "I wasn't offered the job because I am a Negro, I was offered it because Red figured I could do it. Russell's 6'9" frame also earned plenty of attention. At the age of 9 he moved to Oakland. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Height: 213cm (6'11") Position: Center. The teams split the first six games. [96] Former NBA player and head coach, Don Nelson, described Russell as follows: "There are two types of superstars. [40] In previous years, the Celtics had been a high-scoring team, but lacked the defensive presence needed to close out tight games. [76] While Russell still has sore feelings towards Boston, there has been something of a reconciliation;[146] on November 15, 2019 Russell did accept the Hall of fame ring in a private ceremony with family,[147] and he has even visited the city regularly in recent years, something he never did in the years immediately after his retirement. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds,[4] and remains second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. [71] It was so surprising that even Red Auerbach was blindsided, and as a consequence, he made the "mistake" of drafting guard Jo Jo White instead of a center. The statue was unveiled on November 1, 2013, with Russell in attendance. [1] In retrospect, Auerbach's thoughts were unorthodox. At the age of seventeen Bill started to study Classics at Oxford, but one year later he joined the army. His NBA career personal averages show him to be an average scorer (15.1 points career average), a poor free throw shooter (56.1%), and average overall shooter from the field (44%, not exceptional for a center). [73], Russell's No. A morass to fight from. [124] Thus Bill Russell's motto became, "If you disrespect that line, you disrespect me. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. 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, one of only four players to receive all three honors. Russell also wrote books, usually written as a joint project with a professional writer, including 1979's Second Wind. On the road it was not uncommon for him to have to sleep in a different hotel from the one the rest of the club used. "[78][132] However, when his white Celtics teammate Frank Ramsey asked whether he hated him, Russell claimed to have been misquoted, but few believed it. [63] However, Heinsohn proposed Russell himself as a player-coach, and when Auerbach asked his center, he said yes. (16.06.2015) He and the other black teammates refused to play in the exhibition game and flew home, drawing a great deal of controversy and publicity. Russell was accused of selling out the future of the franchise for a month of his salary. When the NBA All-Stars toured the U.S. in the 1958 offseason, white hotel owners in segregated North Carolina denied rooms to Russell and his black teammates, causing him to later write in his memoir Go Up for Glory, "It stood out, a wall which understanding cannot penetrate. Bill Russell Wiki 2020, Height, Age, Net Worth 2020, Family - Find facts and details about Bill Russell on wikiFame.org That did not happen ... My junior year in college, I had what I thought was the one of the best college seasons ever. [66] Russell acknowledged the first real loss of his career (he had been injured in 1958 when the Celtics lost the NBA Finals) by visiting Chamberlain in the locker room, shaking his hand and saying, "Great". The IRS discovered that Russell owed $34,430 in tax money and put a lien on his house.[79]. [71] West then hit one basket after the other and cut the lead to one, and Chamberlain asked to return to the game. Clubs. [10] Russell soon became noted for his unusual style of defense. Boston's chances of getting Russell seemed slim, however. In Boston steht eine lebensgroße Ehrenstatue des Hall of Famers; als altersmilder Gründervater ist er gefragt, in den Arenen der Association ein gerne . Over 50 percent of responses said 'There's too many black players. Russell wore his Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the image was captioned with "Proud to take a knee, and to stand tall against social injustice." The team’s coach, Red Auerbach, coveted Russell as the missing piece to what he believed could be a championship roster. [1] Opponent Wilt Chamberlain said Russell's timing as a shot-blocker was unparalleled. Bill Russell is one of them. Wählen Sie aus erstklassigen Inhalten zum Thema Bill Russell Basketballer in … The Celtics made good use of the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers had exhausted St. Louis in a long seven-game Western Conference Finals, and the Celtics convincingly won in five games.[51][52]. [78] The same fate awaited his Boston restaurant called "Slade's", after which he had to default on a $90,000 government loan to purchase the outlet. This would occur repeatedly throughout his career. Like almost all Southern towns and cities of that time, Monroe was very segregated, and the Russells often struggled with racism in their daily lives. I could hear anything, I could see anything, and nothing mattered. [66], In Russell's penultimate season of 1967–68, his numbers slowly declined, but at age 34, he still tallied 12.5 points per game and 18.6 rebounds per game[38] (the latter good for the third highest average in the league). [100] Each plinth features a key word and related quote to illustrate Russell's multiple accomplishments. [98] On June 15, 2017, Russell was announced as the inaugural recipient of the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award. As a child he witnessed how his parents were victims of racial abuse, and the family eventually moved into government housing projects to escape the daily torrent of bigotry. Avery Brundage, head of the International Olympic Committee, argued that Russell had already signed a professional contract and thus was no longer an amateur, but Russell prevailed. Russell replied, "Because the most important factor is respect. [63] Third choice Tom Heinsohn also said no, because he did not think he could handle the often surly Russell. [47] On November 7, 1959, Russell's Celtics hosted Chamberlain's Warriors, and pundits called the matchup between the best offensive and defensive centers "The Big Collision" and "Battle of the Titans". ", "1953–56 NCAA Championship Seasons: The Bill Russell Years", "Basketball Players who Caused Rule Changes by Ron Kurtus - Sports History: School for Champions", "NCAA Basketball Tourney History: Two by Four", "Stanford Trackmen Finish Fourth in Fresno Relays; Leamon King Equals Century World Record; Landy Runs Mile in 3.59.1; Russell Nears Mark", "Bill Russell attempting to clear 6-9 1/4. Russell's stint with the Kings was considerably shorter, his last assignment ending when the Kings went 17–41 to begin the 1987–88 season. In 1954, he became the first coach of a major college basketball squad to start three black players: Russell, K. C. Jones and Hal Perry. (K.C. Bill Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1934. Although Russell was a good runner and jumper and had large hands,[6] he simply did not understand the game and was cut from the team in junior high school. Although Russell never averaged more than 19.0 points per game or shot as much as 47 percent in any season in an offense-friendly era, many regard him to be among the greatest basketball players of all time. Russell capped his amateur career by leading the U.S. men’s basketball team to the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. [38] Boston defeated the Cincinnati Royals 4–1 to earn another NBA Finals appearance, and then won against Chamberlain's newly relocated San Francisco Warriors 4–1. Reserve guard Alex Hannum threw a long alley oop pass to Pettit, and Pettit's tip-in rolled indecisively on the rim for several seconds before rolling out again. He most likely would have led the league in blocked shots many times, but the NBA had not yet started keeping track of the statistic. [115] Russell is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, having been initiated into its Gamma Alpha chapter while a student at University of San Francisco. In the interim, Russell won an Olympic gold medal in 1956. Considered one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, William Felton Russell was born on February 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana. Although the salary was touted in the press as a record for an NBA coach, it is unclear whether Russell's continued $100,001 salary as a player was included in the calculation. His parents were Charles Russell and Kutie Russell. And so [Walter Brown,] the… guy that owned the Celtics[,] was [in addition to Auerbach for whom Russell expressed "respect" and "actual love"] another one of the fine, good, and decent human beings that I've ever encountered… When the [Celtics] drafted Chuck Cooper and they came into Washington, D.C. to sign his contract, Walter Brown the owner of the team walked up to him and said 'Mr. After the loss, he led his grandfather through the Celtics locker rooms, and the two saw white Celtics player John Havlicek taking a shower next to his black teammate Sam Jones and discussing the game. The game was tied with two seconds left when Sam Jones sank a clutch shot that won the Celtics the series. [19], However, the games were often difficult for the USF squad. [149], On September 26, 2017, Russell posted a photograph of himself to a previously unused Twitter account in which he was taking a knee in solidarity with NFL players kneeling during the US national anthem. [40] This skill also allowed the other Celtics to play their men aggressively: if they were beaten, they knew that Russell was guarding the basket. [70] In the playoffs, however, Russell and his Celtics achieved upsets over the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks to earn a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. While Saperstein spoke to Woolpert in a meeting, Globetrotters assistant coach Harry Hanna tried to entertain Russell with jokes. In Russell's first NBA playoff game, he finished with 16 points and 31 rebounds, along with a reported seven blocks. [5], Charles Russell was described as a "stern, hard man" who initially worked in a paper factory as a janitor, which was a typical "Negro Job"—low paid and not intellectually challenging, as sports journalist John Taylor commented. [38] During this season, the Celtics featured five future Hall-of-Famers: center Russell, forwards Heinsohn and Frank Ramsey, and guards Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy. [94] Bill Bradley—Russell's erstwhile Knicks opponent—wrote in 2009 that Russell "was the smartest player ever to play the game [of basketball]". Kaiser Wilhelm served as emperor of Germany from 1888 until the end of World War I. Buffalo Bill Cody earned his nickname by hunting and killing over 4,000 buffalo, and his status as an Old West legend was cemented with his traveling Wild West show. Even against more physically imposing centers, like Wilt Chamberlain, Russell was a defensive and rebounding force. [91] By winning the 1956 NCAA Championship with USF and the 1957 NBA title with the Celtics, Russell became the first of only four players in basketball history to win an NCAA championship and an NBA Championship back-to-back (the others being Henry Bibby, Magic Johnson, and Billy Thompson). "[132] To teammates and friends, Russell was open and amicable, but was extremely distrusting and cold towards anyone else. [121], In 1966, The New York Times wrote "Russell's main characteristics are pride, intelligence, an active and appreciative sense of humor, a preoccupation with dignity, a capacity for consideration once his friendship or sympathy has been aroused, and an unwillingness to compromise whatever truths he has accepted. However, when the Sixers' Hall-of-Fame guard Hal Greer inbounded, John Havlicek stole the ball, causing Celtics commentator Johnny Most to scream: "Havlicek stole the ball! [92], In his first NBA full season (1957–58), Russell became the first player in NBA history to average more than 20 rebounds per game for an entire season, a feat he accomplished 10 times in his 13 seasons. One of his highest jumps occurred at the West Coast Relays, where he achieved a mark of 6 feet 9 1⁄4 inches (2.06 m);[27] at the meet Russell tied Charlie Dumas, who would later in the year win gold in the Melbourne Olympics for the United States and become the first person to high-jump 7 feet (2.13 m). [1] For his achievements, Russell was named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated in 1968. When I started to jump to make defensive plays and to block shots, I was initially corrected, but I stuck with it, and it paid off. [38] An interesting phenomenon began that year: Russell was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player, but only named to the All-NBA Second Team. https://www.biography.com/athlete/bill-russell. In the 1959 NBA Finals, the Celtics recaptured the NBA title, sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers 4–0. Russell became a vegetarian, took up golf and worked as a color commentator for CBS and TBS throughout the 1970s into the mid-1980s, but he was uncomfortable as a broadcaster. Russell used a copy as extra motivation and told his team to play a running game, because in that case, not the better, but the more determined team was going to win. met his first wife the late Rose Catherine Swisher while they were in college, they were college sweethearts and eventually married on December 9, 1956. Russell led the San Francisco Dons to two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, and he captained the gold-medal winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.[1]. [35], During that same draft, Boston also drafted guard K. C. Jones, Russell's former USF teammate. In California, life for the Russell family proved rocky. The following is an excerpt from the e-book The Crossover: A Brief History of Basketball and Race, from James Naismith to LeBron James . 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. [34] Auerbach later claimed that Brown offered Harrison guaranteed performances of the Ice Capades if they did not draft Russell; it is difficult to verify or disprove this, but it is clear that the Royals underrated Russell. "[79] In December 2008, the We Are Boston Leadership Award was presented to Russell. [111] Russell is married to Jeannine Russell. "[99], Boston honored Russell by erecting a statue of him on City Hall Plaza in 2013: he is depicted in-game, surrounded by 11 plinths representing the 11 championships he helped the Celtics win. Over the years, other rule changes have been made to counter the dominant play of big men. [126] Later in Russell's career, Havlicek said of his teammate and coach that he threw up less often than early in his career, only doing so "when it's an important game or an important challenge for him—someone like Chamberlain, or someone coming up that everyone's touting. In 2009, SLAM Magazine named Russell the #3 player of all time behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. [69] Russell pulled himself together and put up 9.9 points and 19.3 rebounds per game,[38] but the aging Celtics stumbled through the regular season. He had initially wanted his old player Frank Ramsey to coach the Celtics, but Ramsey was too occupied running his three lucrative nursing homes. In addition, Auerbach had already used his territorial pick to acquire talented forward Tom Heinsohn. [58], In the following 1963–64 season, the Celtics posted a league-best 58–22 record in the regular season. Wählen Sie aus erstklassigen Inhalten zum Thema Bill Russell 1969 in höchster Qualität. [113] His older brother was the noted playwright Charlie L. [33] However, that playoff series ended in a dramatic Game 7. [7] Under head coach Gerald Tucker, Russell helped the national team win the gold medal in Melbourne, by defeating the Soviet Union 89–55 in the final game. [15] Combining the stature and shot-blocking skills of a center with the foot speed of a guard, Russell became the centerpiece of a USF team that soon became a force in college basketball. William Felton „Bill“ Russell (* 12. [77], In addition, Russell ran into financial trouble. [71] Russell then ordered to double-team West, and Boston won Game 3. Rather than play for somebody else, Russell took over as a player-coach, steering the team to titles in 1968 and 1969. When Russell was eight years old, his father moved the family out of Louisiana and settled in Oakland, California. The teams split the first six games, and the tension was so high that, in Game 3, Celtics coach Auerbach punched his colleague Ben Kerner and received a $300 fine. [76], After retiring as a player, Russell had stints as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (1973–1977) and Sacramento Kings (1987–1988). Legendary center who was a 5-time NBA MVP and 12-time All-Star selection. [40] Russell had a more cordial relationship with many of his teammates with the notable exception of Heinsohn, his old rival and fellow rookie. In these 11 games, Russell averaged 18 points and 29.45 rebounds. The owner of St Louis called Auerbach later and demanded more in the trade. I averaged over 20 points and over 20 rebounds, and I was the only guy in college blocking shots. Russell had a miserable childhood life as he was sickly most of the time. In 1956, Russell … [41] Russell grabbed an NBA Finals-record 40 rebounds in Game 2, and added 22 points and 35 rebounds in the deciding Game 7, a 122–103 victory for Boston. He was never embraced by Boston fans in the way his white teammates were. Following Chamberlain's death in October 1999, Russell returned to prominence at the turn of the millennium. [85] The following day, during halftime of the All-Star game, Celtics captains Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen presented Russell a surprise birthday cake for his 75th birthday. He last led the Sacramento Kings as president of basketball operations in the late 1980s. Brown, who gave him a high $24,000 rookie contract, just $1,000 shy of the top earning veteran Bob Cousy. [Auerbach would] get the information from us and then make a decision based on that information and his thoughts. Chamberlain often invited Russell over for Thanksgiving dinner, and at Russell's place, conversation mostly concerned Russell's electric trains. The relationship was shrouded in controversy because Anstett was white. This was in contrast to other Celtics who had to work during the offseason to maintain their standard of living: Heinsohn sold insurance, Gene Guarilia was a professional guitar player, Cousy ran a basketball camp, and Auerbach invested in plastics and a Chinese restaurant. Russell, who had a difficult relationship with the media, did not attend either ceremony. "[138] Describing the Celtics organization (as distinguished from Boston sports fans in the 1950s and 1960s) as very progressive racially, Russell in 2010 recalled a list of the organization's accomplishments on racial progress both in terms of objective milestones and his own subjective experience as a member of the organization:[139]. In Game 4, the Celtics were trailing by one point with seven seconds left and the Lakers having the ball, but then Baylor stepped out of bounds, and in the last play, Sam Jones used a triple screen by Bailey Howell, Larry Siegfried and Havlicek and hit a buzzer beater which equalized the series. He was nominated for an Oscar for his seriocomic role in 'Lost in Translation.'. This was the first time in seven years that he failed to average at least 23 rebounds a game. Bill Russell – DVDs, CDs, Blu-ray Discs und mehr Ihre Suche nach "bill russell" ergab 253 Treffer Sortieren nach: Ansicht: The Good Liar. Finden Sie perfekte Stock-Fotos zum Thema Bill Russell 1969 sowie redaktionelle Newsbilder von Getty Images. Russell held Chamberlain to a pair of field goals in the first three quarters of Game 3. He retired in 1969 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame six years later. [33] Despite this, the Celtics were leading only 97–95 with 34 seconds left when Russell closed out the game with several consecutive clutch plays. November 2016. The already hostile atmosphere between Russell and Boston hit its apex when vandals broke into his house, covered the walls with racist graffiti, damaged his trophies and defecated in the beds. Russell and his black teammates became targets of racist jeers, particularly on the road. In overtime, the fourth forward, Frank Ramsey, fouled out trying to guard Elgin Baylor, so Russell was completely robbed of his usual four-men wing rotation. [34], Before his NBA rookie year, Russell was the captain of the U.S. national basketball team that competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, which would be held in November and December in Melbourne, Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. [71], The Celtics were ahead by nine points with five minutes remaining; in addition, West was heavily limping after a Game 5 thigh injury and Chamberlain had left the game with an injured leg. [31], The Harlem Globetrotters invited Russell to join their exhibition basketball squad. [69] He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings and was generally lacking energy: after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion. Search Bill Russell's game log history; All-Star Games. [78] Journalists were often treated to the "Russell Glower", described as an "icily contemptuous stare accompanied by a long silence". He won 11 NBA titles in the 13 seasons that he played with the Boston Celtics. Während seiner gesamten Profilaufbahn von 1956 bis 1969 spielte er für die Boston Celtics in der National Basketball Association (NBA) und gewann in … [56] At that time, he became the fourth player in Celtics history to have a triple-double, joining Ed Macauley, Bob Cousy and K.C. NBA Karriere 1956–1959. So we never, or at least I never, ever considered him as having ulterior motives for whatever he did. When he became player-coach in 1966, Russell bluntly said to his teammates that "he intended to cut all personal ties to other players" and seamlessly made the transition from their peer to their superior. Founder and lead singer of Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose is a celebrated but controversial figure in the world of rock. But there's another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that's the type Russell was."[97]. [146] When Russell originally retired, he demanded that his jersey be retired in an empty Boston Garden. [73] Although White became a standout Celtics player, the Celtics lacked an All-Star center, went just 34–48 in the next season and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1950. L.A. now featured new recruit Wilt Chamberlain next to perennial stars Baylor and West, and were heavily favored. In 1986 Russell played Judge Roger Ferguson in the Miami Vice episode "The Fix" (aired March 7, 1986). Five times he was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, and his 21,620 rebounds are second only to Chamberlain’s career mark. Name + "Statistics" Translations. Following the 1969 season, Russell retired from the game. Because Russell ignored virtually any well-wisher who approached him home or away, not to mention the vast majority of media, his autograph was among the most difficult to secure of any pro athlete of his time. Over the course of his 13-year NBA career, Russell steered the club to 11 titles. In the 1959–60 season, the NBA witnessed the debut of legendary 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged a record 37.6 points per game in his rookie year. [16] Decades later, Russell explained that his experiences hardened him against abuse of all kinds. These statues were modeled by a local boy from Somerville and multiple girls from the surrounding area. - The DealRoom", "Glory at the Basket, William Felton Russell", "The Ring Leader: Bill Russell helped the Celtics rule their sport like no team ever has", "Celtics Name Russell Coach, Making Him First Negro to Lead Major Team", "A Farewell Fiercest Rival: Bill Russell Recalls Wilt As His Friend For Eternity", "Bill Russell: Working with Rod Auerbach", https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2019/11/15/more-than-years-later-celtics-great-bill-russell-finally-accepts-his-hall-fame-ring/Ns13MPvfsEJwHl06QMdLnN/story.html, "Third Annual "We Are Boston" Event Honors Outstanding Contributions to Boston's Diversity", "Bill Russell: 'Tell those NFL players, I'm with them, UPI College Basketball Player of the Year Award, Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year, NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player, 1955 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans, 1956 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans, NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award, National Basketball Association's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Russell&oldid=1016050367, African-American sports executives and administrators, American sports executives and administrators, All-American college men's basketball players, Basketball players at the 1955 NCAA Men's Division I Final Four, Basketball players at the 1956 NCAA Men's Division I Final Four, Basketball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, National Basketball Association players with retired numbers, National Basketball Association broadcasters, National Basketball Association All-Stars, National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches, Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball, San Francisco Dons men's basketball players, San Francisco Dons men's track and field athletes, United States men's national basketball team players, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 5 April 2021, at 03:38. "[33], However, Russell seemed to reach a breaking point during the 1968–69 season. [60], In the following 1965–66 season, the Celtics won their eighth consecutive title. "[95] In the book itself Russell wrote "Whenever I leave the Celtics locker room, even Heaven wouldn't be good enough because anywhere else is a step down... With Red [Auerbach] and Walter Brown, I was the freest athlete on the planet. Their 48–34 record was the team's worst since 1955–56, and they entered the playoffs as only the fourth-seeded team in the East. Two years later, during the spring of 2015, two statues of children were added, honoring Bill Russell's commitment to working with children. [21][22], Racism also shaped his lifelong paradigm as a team player. [1], Russell again excelled during the 1964–65 season. Boston then beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 in the NBA Finals, giving Russell his tenth title in 12 years. Bill Russell was born in 1934 to Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. [20] In one incident, hotels in Oklahoma City refused to admit Russell and his black teammates while they were in town for the 1954 All-College Tournament. [7] Mikan, in turn, would say of Russell the college basketball player, "Let's face it, he's the best ever. [44], In the NBA Finals, the Celtics met the St. Louis Hawks, who were again led by Bob Pettit, as well as former Celtic Ed Macauley. Bill Russell wife Rose Swisher. [129] Russell, at the time his additional role of coach was announced, publicly stated he believed Auerbach's (who he regarded as the greatest of all coaches) impact as a coach confined every or almost every relationship with each Celtic player to a strictly professional one. Nothing went on outside the borders[] of the court. About Bill Russell. 6 jersey was retired by the Celtics on March 12, 1972,[74] Russell had worn the same number 6 at the University of San Francisco and for the 1956 USA Olympic Team. And before Bill Russell, no black coach had ever led an NBA team, much less win a championship. Listen up. I owe so much to him it's impossible to express. So he made a conscious decision, he said, to put the team first and foremost, and not worry about individual achievements. Outside the classroom, Russell began playing basketball. He had invested $250,000 in a rubber plantation in Liberia, where he had wanted to spend his retirement, but it went bankrupt. During a conversation with students, a reporter—unknown to Russell—heard Russell describe Chamberlain as a malingerer and accused him of "copping out" of the game when it seemed that the Lakers would lose. Bing Russell, Actor: The Magnificent Seven. William Seward was a New York governor and U.S. senator before serving as secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.