William Felton "Bill" Russell (February 12, 1934–July 31, 2022) was arguably the greatest winner in the history of American professional sports—not just Basketball, the whole thing. In his thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association, the center led the Boston Celtics to a record eleven championships (losing to the eventual champions in both years he didn't get a ring)note , was named MVP five times ('58, '61-'63, '65), was a 12-time All-Star, won gold in the 1956 Olympic Games, and, from high school onwards, never lost a winner-take-all championship game.
Russell's talent and immense arm span made him a literal Game-Breaker even in his college days: he led his team in San Francisco to back-to-back national championships and forced the NCAA to rewrite multiple defensive rules. Drafted at #2 overall in 1956 by the Hawks, Celtics coach Red Auerbach traded two players to secure his rights, a bold move that established a dynasty in Boston practically unmatched in all pro sports. Arguably the NBA's first Black player to truly become a superstar (he was the first to be named MVP), Russell was active in the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s, once leading a boycott of Black players from a 1961 preseason game to protest racism and segregation. He also became the first Black coach in NBA history, succeeding Auerbach after he retired from active coaching; he coached the team for his last three years and two championships with Boston while still playing.
Russell's on-court wars with Wilt Chamberlain were legendary; he remains behind only Chamberlain in most career rebound statistics, leading the NBA in that category in four separate seasons. While the stat wasn't counted during his career, Russell was regarded as the greatest shot blocker of his era (if not all time).
Off the court, Russell was renowned not just for his talents but for his intelligence, character, and distinctive laugh. However, he had a strained relationship with the city of Boston for many decades due to the racism he encountered during his career. He left the team abruptly after his final championship in '69 and often was labeled as cold and aloof for denying autographs for children and refusing to attend team events after he left Boston, even including the retirement of his own #6. This tension cooled towards the end of his life; the Celtics "re"-retired his number in the '90s so he could receive an ovation, and when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach in 2021, it was widely seen as a chance to make up for him skipping his first-ballot induction as a player in 1975 (his post-Celtics coaching stints with Seattle and Sacramento were generally unspectacular).
For his unmatched success in the finals, he is the current namesake for the NBA's Finals MVP award. For his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Shortly after his death in 2022, his #6 jersey number was retired league-wide by the NBA, making him only the third player in major American sports to receive the honor after Major League Baseball's Jackie Robinson and the National Hockey League's Wayne Gretzky.
