Bill Russell, dead at 88, fled poverty and racism for basketball

Bill Russell, who died on Sunday (31) at age 88, was once asked if the Presidential Medal for Freedom, an honor from the US government, awarded by Barack Obama in 2011, had been the main award received by the former star of the NBA. Russell, owner of the most successful basketball career in the United States, claimed it was his second biggest lifetime achievement. So which would be most important?

“At 77, my dad told me, ‘I’m so proud that you’re my son,” said the former Boston Celtics center. “My father is my hero. And I can’t see anything bigger than that.”

In an age of segregationism, family unity was one of the main assets for the boy William Russell not to be shipwrecked during the difficult years of childhood. Bill was born in 1934 in West Monroe, Louisiana, one of the most racist states in the US. Prejudice against blacks was so strong that they were forced to wait in line to be served in commerce. Whites always got ahead.

Once, Charlie, Bill’s father, gave up waiting and wanted to look for another place to fill up his car. He was stopped by the owner of the establishment, who pointed a gun at him and forced him to buy there. Gifted, her mother, Katie, on another occasion, sewed a beautiful suit. As she went out into the street, proud of her new outfit, she was approached by a police officer who forced her to return home to change. It was strange for people to see a black woman walking around in “white clothes”.

The revolt against all this was accompanied by the boy’s physical growth. In search of better living conditions, the family then moved to Oakland, California. Bill said that if he had stayed in Louisiana, he would have killed someone. Or he would have been killed.

Closely attached to his mother and estranged from his severe father, the boy suffered his first childhood shock with Katie’s death. He was only 12 years old. That’s when Charlie decided to quit his truck driver job to work as a worker in a steel factory. Everything to be closer to the children. He lost money. He won the family.

Tall—he would reach 2.08 meters—Bill was oriented toward basketball, but didn’t excel during his high school years. So much so that no university invited the young man to join its team. The exception was Hal DeJulio, a scout at the University of San Francisco, who saw potential in the teenage spinner, but with poor foundations.

Bill realized that sport would be the way to escape poverty, violence and racism. He directed his energy to training and improving himself. Results started to show. In 1955 and 1956, already as the highlight of the team, he led San Francisco to the NCAA championship, the North American college basketball league. This year, as a prize, he was summoned to defend the United States at the Melbourne Olympics, in Australia.

With Russell, KC Jones and Carl Cain, the selection had never had so many blacks on the roster. Teammates in San Francisco, Jones and Russell replayed it against Bulgaria in the second round of college basketball. The point guard threw the ball and, with a spectacular jump, the center nailed the basket. Astonished, the referees, who had never seen anything like it, canceled the bid. At halftime, after a complaint from coach Gerald Tucker, the points were validated.

Long before the Dream Team of Barcelona-1992, the United States showed such dominance that they beat their opponents with an average of 53.5 points of advantage per game. In times of Cold War, the decisive game was against the Soviet Union, which drew attention for the pivot Janis Kruminch, 2.18 meters. But it was a ride: 89 to 55 for the United States, four-time champions of the Olympic tournament (they had already triumphed in 1936, 1948 and 1952).

That year, the draft, the NBA’s rookie selection, defined much of the league’s future. With deft negotiation, Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach selected Russell, KC Jones and Tom Heinsohn. The backbone of the winningest team in the league’s history was in place.

With the center on the court, the Massachusetts team went from being an extra to become the main franchise in the NBA. The Celtics won their first trophy in 1957, in Russell’s rookie season, against the St. Bob Pettit’s Louis Hawks, best player of the previous season. It was the beginning of a dynasty. In the following years, in 12 championships played, Russell collected ten more champion rings, a mark never reached by another player. His feud with Wilt Chamberlain brought new excitement to the league, but the rival center won only one title while Russell was on the court.

For eight years in a row (1959 to 1966), the Boston Celtics did not have their hegemony broken, a feat that was also unique. In five of those championships, the team defeated its biggest rivals, the Minneapolis (and later Los Angeles) Lakers, by decision. In the last two conquests (1968 and 1969), Russell accumulated the roles of coach and player. With the position, he became the first black to command a professional league team in the United States.

A campaigner for equality, he supported boxer Muhammad Ali’s refusal to serve US troops in the Vietnam War. He once refused to play friendly in Lexington. The day before, a restaurant owner had refused to serve a meal to him and his teammates.

Despite the racial fighting, he always recognized the doors opened to him by whites, such as Walter Brown, owner of the Celtics, who signed him, and Red Auerbach, coach of Boston, who appointed him as his successor in charge of the team. It was Auerbach, by the way, who had no qualms about casting Willie Naulls in place of Heinsohn when the winger was injured. It was the first time an NBA team had started a game with only black players.

Russell was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for five seasons. He was in 12 Star Games, a party that annually brings together the main athletes of the league. In 1970, he was part of the NBA’s 25th Anniversary Players’ Selection. He held the post in the tournament’s 35th anniversary festivities. In 1996, in the poll of the 50 Greatest Athletes in NBA History, Russell was back on the list. Only four players figured in all these relationships.

In 1969, the last year he played, the NBA created awards for the best athlete in the finals. Champion, he saw the award go to point guard Jerry West, of the LA Lakers. Forty years later, this trophy, which never ended up in Russell’s hands, is named after him.

Another honor he was very proud of was accompanying his daughter’s success. When he separated from his first wife, he was surprised by 11-year-old Karen’s decision to live with her father. The brothers William Jr. and Jacob decided to stay with their mother. A decision that would weigh heavily on your pocket. “She took me out of retirement three times,” joked the father, referring to the difficulties in paying for his daughter’s studies, who studied law at the prestigious Harvard University.

Years later, with Karen as a prominent lawyer, Russell had the chance to meet two US presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Both greeted him as “Karen Russell’s father”. In a way, it was a closing cycle.