# NBA legend Bill Russell has died **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, basketball-nba\ **Created:** [July 31, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878 "2022-07-31T18:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/1 "2022-07-31T18:03:11Z")
One of the greatest ever to play three game has died. He was 88. Rest In Peace, Bill. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/2 "2022-07-31T18:09:15Z")
He won 11 championships with the Celtics in an era in which Wilt Chamberlain was dominating the statistics. And he did it in a city that was (and still is, for the most part) hostile to Black people. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/3 "2022-07-31T18:13:43Z")
Bill Russell was the subject of the first book I remember reading about pro basketball. Funny, I even remember that the book began, ‘Rookies, always trying to show off their defense…’ He was before my time but what film footage I’ve seen definitely shows that he was one of the best of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/4 "2022-07-31T18:27:02Z")
USF won two national championships when he was there. Boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/5 "2022-07-31T18:31:12Z")
He’s the center on my All-NBA team. Or maybe the power forward, with Wilt at C. But I want him on my team. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/6 "2022-07-31T18:52:27Z")
He was the only player in a major sport to have more Championships than Yogi Berra. He was actually before my time and on a hated rival but still have to respect his greatness. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/7 "2022-07-31T18:54:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > He was the only player in a major sport to have more Championships than Yogi Berra. Nope. Henri Richard also won 11 championships, in 20 years in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens. > **[Henri Richard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Richard)** > > Joseph Henri Richard (February 29, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He was nicknamed "Pocket Rocket" after his older brother, Canadiens' legend and fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Henri won the Stanley Cup 11 times as a player, the most in NHL history. Richard and Bill Russell of the National Basketball Association are tied for the record ... Berra “only” won the World Series ten times. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/8 "2022-07-31T19:02:47Z")
I said major sport. 🙂 Sorry about that, I never even heard of Henri Richard. Amazing he won 11. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/9 "2022-07-31T19:29:23Z")
I’m not old enough to have watched Russell play, but am old enough to have seen him do color commentary. From what I’ve read and seen in videos, he was a defensive force and he was a strong rebounder. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/10 "2022-07-31T19:54:24Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I said major sport. 🙂 Here is a virtual high five. 👏 (Though in all seriousness I’ve been casually watching the NHL the last couple of years and it can be pretty thrilling.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/11 "2022-07-31T19:59:29Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I said major sport. 🙂 To be fair, for the first 12 seasons of Richard’s stellar career, the NHL was a six-team league. (Then again, the NBA was an eight-team league for a fair chunk of Russell’s career.) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/12 "2022-07-31T20:36:32Z")
Blarg. Richard’s gotten his name etched on the most famous trophy in professional sports 11 more times than anyone on this board, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/13 "2022-07-31T20:40:19Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Richard’s gotten his name etched on the most famous trophy in professional sports 11 more times than anyone on this board, as far as I know. Absolutely true, and he was a fantastic player. I’m just noting that the NHL (and the NBA) was a very different league in those days, if for no other reason than the much smaller number of teams against which one was competing. That, combined with no salary caps and limited free agency, likely made it easier to build and maintain a dynastic team. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/14 "2022-07-31T22:57:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That, combined with no salary caps and limited free agency, likely made it easier to build and maintain a dynastic team. At the time there was no draft in the NHL and the Canadiens had a huge farm system of French-speaking players. In the 50s they had more “minor-leaguers” than the other 5 teams combined. They did not, as has been claimed have exclusive first rights of all French speaking Canadians, but their system made it almost like that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/15 "2022-08-01T00:32:45Z")
I just found out about Nichelle Nichols and now this. RIP, All Star. > **[Celtics great Russell, 11-time champ, dies at 88](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34323568/boston-celtics-great-bill-russell-11-nba-champion-dies-88)** > > Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Celtics dynasty that won eight straight titles and 11 overall during his career, died Sunday at age 88. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/16 "2022-08-01T00:37:04Z")
There’s a thread on his passing in The Game Room: > [@NBA legend Bill Russell has died](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/): > > One of the greatest ever to play three game has died. He was 88. Rest In Peace, Bill. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/17 "2022-08-01T00:55:25Z")
He was the first black head coach in a major sport, as he led the team he was on as a player-coach beginning in 1966. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/18 "2022-08-01T01:47:39Z")
Andscape has a compelling article about Russell already. > **[Bill Russell: ‘A lifetime phenomenon as an athlete’](https://andscape.com/features/bill-russell-a-lifetime-phenomenon-as-an-athlete/)** > > From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick, sociologist and longtime civil rights activist Harry Edwards has seen the historical political moments… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/19 "2022-08-01T02:23:31Z")
One of my first hero’s, I remember reading his book _Go Up for Glory_ in the 1960’s (I may still have it in the archives, will need to look) and besides being a great athlete, he was also a fighter for equality back in the times when Jim Crow still was a major part of Southern living. A man I never met but always respected. We’ll not see his likes again for some time, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878/20 "2022-08-02T05:33:15Z")
A great athlete and a great man. RIP Bill. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-legend-bill-russell-has-died/968878.md?page=2)