Bill Russell RIP

Roberto71

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Deserves its own thread.

11 Championships, 5 MVP awards.

Celtics legend.

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11 NBA Championships. 11. It will never be seen again. There was a story that Wilt Chamberlain got a contract for $100K (!!). Russell got $100,001.00 because after about 6 titles he "was either worth a buck more than Wilt or not". Don't beat me up to bad fact checkers but that is the gist of it!
 
11 NBA Championships. 11. It will never be seen again. There was a story that Wilt Chamberlain got a contract for $100K (!!). Russell got $100,001.00 because after about 6 titles he "was either worth a buck more than Wilt or not". Don't beat me up to bad fact checkers but that is the gist of it!
You're correct, I believe.
 
I'll write up a nice piece about him later tonight.

Death is always by our side yet I'm sitting here in tears. This one hits even harder than Ted Williams passing did for me.

Rest in Peace Champ. You were a beautiful human being.

And that smile. 😪
 
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I was exceedingly fortunate to have seen him play for a lot of years on TV and in person. I was even more fortunate to have had an opportunity to speak with him 1-1 for about 10 minutes shortly after his retirement. It would be impossible for me to adequately express how intimidating at first it was to speak wth him, and it would be equally impossible for me to adequately express how much he made me feel at ease once we began conversing. I mean, I was this wiseass college kid (with several Garden beers in me) and he couldn't have been more interesting or cordial. Now, we all know cordiality with fans in those days by Bill was pretty uncommon, but I guess I just got lucky.
 
Growing up in the 60's, Bill Russell and the Celtics were like gods to me. Bill was an inspiration and the ultimate winner. He eschewed scoring points for defense, rebounding, and team ball - and like he said "My teams won with my style of play and philosophy". And boy, did they ever: 11 titles in 13 years. In the fall of 1962 he and the rest of the Celtics came to our high school and played a pre season game - that was a thrill. I so wish we had decent cameras back then...! In 1972 he did an interview with Don Gillis of Channel 5 where he shared some life advice. What he said that day resonated with me, and Bill's observance about life turned out to be the final piece of inspiration that I needed going forward. I followed my heart and moved across country to pursue my dreams- and did it ever work out. I have thought about that moment many times since, and have always thanked Bill Russell quietly to myself so many times. Thank you Bill for everything, for your heart, desire, fierce winning style and for your life advice....and I'm sure I'm not the only one in your debt.
 
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