RIP Bill Russell
- Thread starter Liontown
- Start date
As a Sixers fan, that guy drove me nuts. RIP.
Wow, a tremendous man. I read his first autobiography and it really made an impact on the boy I was. I’ve never forgotten the lessons from that book. I’m crushed.
Fabulous basketball player and even greater American.
It took me a long time to get here, but I finally logged on. After BWI was sold I stuck with the old IP address but quickly lost interest. It seemed the new version was similar to the Patriot News comments section at the end of any Penn State article. I quickly stopped paying attention to football. But a guy can only play so much golf, and when I got home after walking another 7 miles for the third day in a row my 72 year old body needed a break. While reading a story about the Indianapolis press conference I saw a reference to Greg Pickel and On3. The story was written by Dave Jones and he was complaining about all of the reporters hogging his time at the press conference and who only publish online, as if the Patriot brings him gravitas.
Anyway, I saw psuro, LionJim and a couple others and thought, "I'm home." Gee it's great to see ya.
Anyway, I saw psuro, LionJim and a couple others and thought, "I'm home." Gee it's great to see ya.
Great to have you here! You’re a Pennsbury man, is my recollection?
I’m going to quote Bill Simmons:
Russell’s teammates treasured and revered him. They sing his praises to this day…He’s the only player who realized every component of basketball as a team game…from his first game to his last. end quote
This is a quote from the Celtics trainer, Joe DiLauri, told to George Plimpton, found in Simmons’s book:
The big concern he has is for the Celtics. Nothing else really matters. That’s why he seems so cold so often to the press and the fans. They’re not Celtics. After we won the championship last year he kicked everyone who wasn’t a Celtic out of the dressing room - press, photographers, hangers-on, and also this poor guy who was tending a television camera in the locker room who said he had to have permission to leave it untended, pleading to stay, saying he was going to lose his job, and it took three or four minutes to get him out. The press was pounding on the door, furious about deadlines and all, and Russell turned around and looked at us, and he asked Bailey Howell to lead the team in prayer. He knew Bailey was a religious man - it was his first year on a championship team - and he knew Bailey would appreciate it. Russell’s not a religious man himself. Sam Jones said, “You pray?” And Russell said, “Yeah, Sam.”
Russell’s teammates treasured and revered him. They sing his praises to this day…He’s the only player who realized every component of basketball as a team game…from his first game to his last. end quote
This is a quote from the Celtics trainer, Joe DiLauri, told to George Plimpton, found in Simmons’s book:
The big concern he has is for the Celtics. Nothing else really matters. That’s why he seems so cold so often to the press and the fans. They’re not Celtics. After we won the championship last year he kicked everyone who wasn’t a Celtic out of the dressing room - press, photographers, hangers-on, and also this poor guy who was tending a television camera in the locker room who said he had to have permission to leave it untended, pleading to stay, saying he was going to lose his job, and it took three or four minutes to get him out. The press was pounding on the door, furious about deadlines and all, and Russell turned around and looked at us, and he asked Bailey Howell to lead the team in prayer. He knew Bailey was a religious man - it was his first year on a championship team - and he knew Bailey would appreciate it. Russell’s not a religious man himself. Sam Jones said, “You pray?” And Russell said, “Yeah, Sam.”
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In the dictionary next to the word winner, one could simply place a picture of Bill Russell and it could not be more correct.
Not a player I despised more than Bill Russell. As a young Sixers fan, this man routinely crushed my dreams of Sixers titles. I will never forget when the Greens came back from a 3-1 deficit and beat the Sixers 4-3 to advance to the Finals. I despised the fact that anyone could say he was better than Wilt.
Wilt vs Russell was the greatest individual sports battle I ever saw. I loathed the fact when he supposedly criticized Wilt for removing himself from Game 7 of the Finals with the championship up for grabs.
As I wised up a bit and got beyond those years, I began to appreciate the greatness of Russell. And that greatness had nothing to do with the game. The man intersected with a unique time in history and contributed so much. He was a titan. My favorite story was when Havlicek was going to hold out and Russell went to Auerbach and told Red to take the extra money from Russell’s salary to pay Havlicek but to not tell him what had happened. When Auerbach asked why Russell would do that, Russell told him that by giving Havlicek what he asked for, Havlicek would never forget the fact that the Celtics respected and appreciated him by agreeing to the salary demand and that Havlicek would reward the Celtics many times over. It was all about giving the C’s the best chance to win that year and beyond when Russell would be retired. Winning was all that mattered.
I feel privileged to have seen Wilt v. Russell at the old Convention Center multiple times. You can’t say Russell without mentioning Wilt and vice versa. I think both grew to be ok with that. What a meaningful and impactful life he lived.
Wilt vs Russell was the greatest individual sports battle I ever saw. I loathed the fact when he supposedly criticized Wilt for removing himself from Game 7 of the Finals with the championship up for grabs.
As I wised up a bit and got beyond those years, I began to appreciate the greatness of Russell. And that greatness had nothing to do with the game. The man intersected with a unique time in history and contributed so much. He was a titan. My favorite story was when Havlicek was going to hold out and Russell went to Auerbach and told Red to take the extra money from Russell’s salary to pay Havlicek but to not tell him what had happened. When Auerbach asked why Russell would do that, Russell told him that by giving Havlicek what he asked for, Havlicek would never forget the fact that the Celtics respected and appreciated him by agreeing to the salary demand and that Havlicek would reward the Celtics many times over. It was all about giving the C’s the best chance to win that year and beyond when Russell would be retired. Winning was all that mattered.
I feel privileged to have seen Wilt v. Russell at the old Convention Center multiple times. You can’t say Russell without mentioning Wilt and vice versa. I think both grew to be ok with that. What a meaningful and impactful life he lived.
I remember reading an article about, of all things, Bill Russell's facial hair. He was one of the few players in the league (and perhaps in pro sports) who had facial hair in the 1960s (pre ant-Vietnam and hippie movement). He said that it was more intimidating.
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There could be some epic one-on-ones in basketball heaven now.
Later, they also did the same thing to the Lakers, winning game seven (I believe) in LA in the championship final.
Well, Bernard, it’s just a matter of time until this gets out and breaks the Internet.
Impressive, but Pitt has more football national championships than this.
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