Basketball player Bill Russell: biography, sports career

Bill Russell is a famous American basketball player, one of the old-timers of the Boston "Celts". The player was awarded the title of the most valuable player of the National Basketball Association five times and was repeatedly involved in all-star matches.

Player's talents

Bill Russell is a basketball player, who is considered one of the most successful centers in the history of the NBA. Thanks to an increase of 2.08 m, the player coped well with the blocking of rival shots. This ability was one of the reasons for success in the top league team "Boston Celtics".

Russell performed excellently. According to this indicator, the player was four times on the list of the best NBA basketball players. Only two players in the history of the league managed to make 50 rebounds during one match. And one of them is Bill Russell.

In fact, the player was never considered the main scorer in the team from Boston. Bill rarely hit the rival's basket. However, this lack fully compensated for the ability to assist partners.

Bill Russell: Statistics

For the professional career in the NBA player managed to achieve the following indicators:

• Participation in games - 963;
• Points scored - 14,522 (an average of 15.1 successful hits on the opponent's ring during the match);
• Transfer - 4100 (an average of 4.3 per game);
• Rebounds - 21,620 (an average of 22.5 per match).

Bill Russell: Biography

William Russell was born on February 12, 1934. At that time, his mother Cathy and father Charles lived in the provincial town of West Monroe, located in Louisiana. Due to racial persecutions, the family soon had to move to Oakland, California. Here the family did not go well. The main part of childhood Bill spent wandering with his parents on the apartments allocated by the public housing stock.

Since the head of the family had to constantly be in search of work, the boy initially received maternal education. When Bill turned 12, Cathy Russell died suddenly. He had to deal with his father, who said goodbye to the trucker's job and was promoted to a steelworker at a local factory. This was the impetus for the development of small Bill's interest in sports, as his father often brought him to the basketball court on weekends.

To play in youth teams Russell began from an early age. The main advantage of the boy in front of his peers was high jumps, long arms. However, Bill's tactical thinking left much to be desired. As a result, the young player had to leave his first school team.

The coach from the new school helped to reveal the potential of Bill. Active training under the guidance of a mentor allowed the player to develop a unique style of conducting defensive actions on the site. Several years passed, and Russell was attracted by a sports agent that represented the interests of the team from the University of San Francisco.

University years

Once in high school, Bill Russell came under the care of the new coach Phil Fulpert, who made him the main center of his team. Unlike many of the previous mentors of the guy, the head of the university basketball team was not interested in the racial affiliation of the players, which was a real inspiration for William.

The main advantage over team-mates in his student years was Russell's ability to move lightly across the site from one opponent to another. Aggressively exposing the unit, Bill forced opponents to change the direction of the shots. In combination with impressive growth and size, these abilities subsequently became key in the career of the young player. After several seasons Russell managed to find the fame of one of the strongest defenders in student basketball.

Starting a career in the NBA

The success of Bill Russell in the university team did not go unnoticed by agents from the National Basketball Association. For the first time the interest to the player was shown by Red Auerbach in 1956, who at that time was the coach of the Boston Celtics. It was in this team that there was a shortage of players who can perform rebounds and cope with the rival in the position of the center.

In addition to Russell, the university friend of the young talent KC Si Jones was invited to the team. As a result, during one viewing of young players, a professional team from the NBA was joined by two young men from the college. Subsequently, the decision of Red Auerbach was recognized as one of the best in the history of sports transfers between university and professional teams.

Speeches for Boston Celtics

For the team from Boston, Bill Russell was fortunate enough to make his debut in the 1956-1957 season. Thanks to the successful actions of the basketball player from the very first matches, the effectiveness of the team's actions in defense has significantly increased.

For many years, Russell played for the "Celtics" at a high stable level. This allowed him to enter the list of legendary NBA basketball players. During 12 seasons of appearances in the top league, Bill each time added to his treasury of achievements of at least 1000 rebounds at the end of the year. Subsequently, the glory of the player allowed him to be on the post of head coach of his native team, and later lead the teams of the Seattle Super Sonicks and Sacramento Kings.

Team Games

Russell's leadership in the team from Boston served as an excuse for his invitation to speak for the national team of the United States. The most successful for the player was in 1956. William faced a difficult choice - either to play the debut season for the Boston Celtics or to show talents at the Olympic Games in Australia. Subsequently, Bill decided to bow to the second option.

Russell, who was awarded the title of captain of the national team, together with partners managed to win gold awards at the world sports forum. In the final, the US team led by Gerald Tucker outplayed the basketball players from the USSR with a score of 89:55. For the game at the Olympic tournament, Bill managed to hit the ring of opponents on average more than 14 times, and his team won matches with a difference of about 50 points.

Coaching activities

In 1966, Bill Russell received an offer to become a playing coach of his native team from Boston. However, William did not manage to cope with new duties shortly - until the 1969 season. For a time to move away from the coaching activities of the player caused a moral upheaval that left a deep trace in his soul after the sudden dissolution of his own marriage, the assassination of President Robert F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War. William abandoned the maintenance of the sports form, gained weight, stopped attending coaching meetings.

However, Russell did not completely say goodbye to basketball. Returned to the position of coach once a legendary player in 1973, when he was offered a position as the head of the team "Seattle Super Sonicks." In the 1987-1988 season, Bill headed the staff of the Sacramento Kings.

After saying goodbye to Boston, Bill Russell was never able to find an application as a successful coach. His work with "Sacramento" and "Seattle" was not crowned with success.

At the end of his career, the legendary player engaged in commentary activities, participation in television projects. Today, Bill lives a solitary life in the suburbs of Seattle, regularly attends the matches of the native Boston Celtics team and serves as a kind of spiritual mentor for the young members of the team.