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Richmond Hosaka
Mr. Silva
U.S. History Period 3
April 19, 2012
Rebounding Machine: Bill Russell
Born with the name of William Felton Russell, whom we know as Bill Russell,
also debated to be one of the greatest big-men to ever play the game of basketball.
He lived in Monroe, Louisiana where most African Americans resided with a
nickname of its own, also known as the Deep South. As Bill grew up, his family
moved to Oakland, California where he found work in shipyards during the Second
World War. Bill Russell lived in the public housing projects, which gave Bill and his
family a pride that could not be tarnished by the evil doings of discrimination. With
this pride, Bill worked extremely hard to excel in whatever he did. Surprisingly,
basketball was not something that came easy to Bill.
Stories of Bill Russell not making his high school basketball team sounds
absurd but it’s the absolute truth. Bill in some cases set a similar story line to which
Michael Jordan had also experienced.
Bill Russell’s team won three state
championships and was offered a basketball scholarship to the University of San
Francisco. Crowds during these times in college basketball were very hostile for the
reason that African Americans were on the team. The discrimination came to the
point where Russell and the other black players were denied hotel accommodations
in Oklahoma City during the 1954 All-College Tournament. The white players on
the team chose to stay with them in a vacant college dormitory.
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Russell refused to let these obstacles demoralize him and he led his team to
two consecutive national championships in 1955 and 1956. This made a significant
impact on the collegiate level and everyone would expect that Russell would be
joining the National Basketball Association. Red Auerbach, an unprecedented and
legendary coach wanted to get his hands on Russell because of his defensive ability.
Unfortunately Russell did not play for the Celtics until December because he was
part of the 1956 Olympic Team for the United States. Bill Russell eventually joined
the Celtics and made another great impact, leading the league in rebounds per game.
Expectations were high for Russell's second season in the NBA. Once again, he led
the league in rebounds, and he led the Celtics to the NBA finals for a rematch with
the Hawks. In the third game of the series, Russell injured his ankle, removing him
from the game, and the Hawks prevailed. It was the only season in which Russell
played for coach Red Auerbach that the Celtics failed to take the national
championship. Nevertheless, Russell was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
In 1962-63 Russell was named Most Valuable Player in the NBA for the
fourth time, and also won Most Valuable Player honors in the All-Star game. The
Celtics faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals, and fought each other to a draw in
the first six games. In a double-overtime seventh game, Russell scored 30 points and
made 40 rebounds to retain the championship for the Celtics. Unable to agree on
any other choice, Auerbach suggested that Russell assume the role of coach himself,
while continuing to play on the team. As Auerbach had never employed an assistant,
Russell resolved that he too would serve without an assistant. The move was a bold
one, not only because Russell had agreed to serve simultaneously as player and
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coach, but because no African American had ever coached a major league sports
team in the United States.
Russell realized that serving as coach of the Boston team would be an
opportunity to show what he could accomplish in a leadership position. The
transition to coach was not an easy one. In the 1966-67 season, the Philadelphia
76ers, led by Wilt Chamberlain, finally broke the Celtics' winning streak, defeating
Russell's team in the Eastern Division playoffs.
On numerous occasions over the years, both the National Basketball
Association and the U.S. State Department to represent his profession and his
country abroad have called on Bill Russell. As early as 1959, he was the first NBA
player to visit Africa. Twenty years later, he made his first trip to China. He has now
led basketball clinics in more than 50 countries on six continents, deploying his
lifetime of experience to build bridges across the barriers that divide humanity. In
2011, President Barack Obama awarded Bill Russell the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.