Russell, Bill

Russell, Bill (William Felton Russell), 1934–, American basketball player, b. Monroe, La. Named an All-American while on the Univ. of San Francisco team, he played on the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the 1956 Olympics. That year he joined the Boston Celtics; in his 13 seasons with the team he won the Most Valuable Player award five times, and was noted for his on-court rivalry with Wilt Chamberlain. After leaving the Celtics in 1969 he was a television sports announcer and the coach (1973–77) of the Seattle SuperSonics.

See his autobiography Second Wind (1979) and his Red and Me (with A. Steinberg, 2009).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Sports: Biographies