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Russell: Makeup of a Champion

"You may have to put your arms around a couple guys to take'em with you, but you can't drag them...you got to put your arms around them and take them with you."
-Bill Russell's advice to Kevin Garnett Bill Russell won more championships (11) than anyone in American Pro Sports history. He won championships as a player, a player-coach, a collegiate and won a gold medal as an Olympian. Russell had years on everyone in terms of his defensive style. At the time, coaches did not teach shot-blocking, they didn't see the value in it. Despite Russell's championship pedigree, he had to constantly fight his coaches, first in high school, and then, at the University of San Francisco, about how he played the game. Once he brought his game to the NBA, shot-blocking gave him an advantage over every other player. The NBA did not keep track of blocked shots, partly because Russell invented the play. Now, what was once unorthodox, is considered fundamental. The NBA, fans, players and writers, eventually warmed to Russell's invention. The blocked shot and his defense in general gave Russell 5 MVP Awards. His presence comforted every other Celtics' player: if they got beat, Russell was there to rotate and make a play. His defensive capabilities often overshadow his offensive prowess. Over time, his offensive skills lost writers' and fans' appreciation. By his, his teammates' and Red Auerbach's accounts, he passed the ball very well, which provided a key balance to Cousy's perimeter game, finding cutters with ease from the center position. Red even ran a number of plays for Russell designed to take advantage of his passing. Though he scored just 15 points a game over his career, he shot better than most remember. He ended the season top 5 in field goal percentage his first four years. His career field goal percentage (44%) was phenomenal during an era of low shooting efficiency. Russell also excelled at transition offense, due in large part to his passing, rebounding and conditioning. He began many breaks with either a blocked shot into a teammate's hands or a rebound. Once he took down a rebound, his passes found the outlet man, usually Bob Cousy in Russell's early years. Deflections and blocks found themselves conveniently in his teammates' hands before the opponents even realized they lost the ball.

After his passes, Russell would then run the length of the court, putting pressure on the other teams' D. Every year he played he made the NBA's top 10 in minutes, an incredible feat considering his intensity on and off the court. All of these efforts had one goal in mind: winning. Teammate, and fellow Hall of Fame Player, Tom "Satch" Sanders, described what made Russell's winning attitude superior to other players Russell had an attitude, most people would just say plainly a winning attitude, but that doesn't really describe it all....He thought any team he plays on should win every single game....that [idea] permeated the entire team. How can we lose? We can't lose. Russell developed his personality in the context of segregation in the deep South, Louisiana, during the 30's and 40's. He relied heavily on his father's and grandfather's example for resilience and inspiration. His grandfather found no black schools for Russell's father to attend, so he decided to build a school for black children himself. He also guarded the house against Klansmen, and never shied away for standing up for himself and his people. Russell applied his grandfather's lesson to a game the Celtics played in the segregated city of Lexington, Kentucky. Russell and his other black teammates were forced to reside in a hotel outside the city and out of restaurants in it. Because of the environment in Lexington, Russell and crew decided to walk out of the place and boycott the game. Russell's father also stood up for the rights of his race. The book Red and Me describes how Russell took an example from his father when his father quit his job to work at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Charlie, Russell's father, would basically keep the Bancroft Bag Factory and all its machines in working order for his boss. However, his boss never promoted him to superintendent's assistant, due to Charlie's race. His father's superior tried to coax him back to work with a raise, but Charlie was tired of the lack of appreciation on the job, and packed his and his family's bags to make it to Detroit. His mother provided the same type of back bone his father and grandfather did. One day, Russell got slapped by one of five kids trying to intimidate him. His mother decided to drive Russell around town until she found all 5 kids. She then had Russell fight each kid one-on-one. He ended with 2 wins and 3 losses, probably the only time in his life he lost more than he had won.

The lesson his family member gave him permeated throughout his basketball career, as Russell fought his coaches, who did not believe in his type of game. Only when he met and played a year for Red Auebach, was Russell able to relax and trust his coach. He played a winner's game, even as his coaches tried to change him. Russell's philosophy was When you take a job, if they pay you two dollars a day give them three dollars of work. The reason is, if they're paying you two, and you're giving them three, you're more valuable to them than they are to you. And if you do that all the time, you can look any man in the and tell him to go straight to hell.

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Russell always gave the Celtics more than he was paid. He understood the team made very little money during the NBA's infancy days, and that owner Walter Brown was not able to afford heavy contracts. Walter Brown, whose "number" 1 hangs in the Garden's rafters, admitted as much himself. According to Russell, Brown told him "We're not paying you enough. I know it and you know it. But I want to show you the books because we're losing money." Russell turned down this opportunity and other opportunities that would turn that $1 into $2 for his $3 of work. When he was 35, with the Celtics in a better financial situation, Red offered him a 8 year, "no cut" contract that would have had Russell making twice as much as he did before, even if he just sat in the stands cheering the team on. Which brings us to Russell's number one attribute for the reason his teams won so many championships: his sacrifices. Russell sacrificed a lot financially, physically and offensively for his teammates' sake. Because he played a team game, he lost 4 MVP awards to Wilt Chamberlain that almost certainly should have belonged to him. While Wilt "the Stilt' was racking up 50 point games offensively, Russell was racking up championships left and right. Had Russell focused more on his offensive game, people nowadays would appreciate his game more so than Wilt's. The proof is in the pudding, Russell won at every level, and won 11 titles to Wilt's 2. He won so many titles he cannot fit all the rings on his finger. So, before the 2007 playoffs, he offered Kevin Garnett one of his championship rings if the Celtics fell short in their campaign for a title. He wanted to give it to Garnett because Garnett had already sacrificed enough to earn one. Now that is Celtics' pride at its best. -Dean O.

For More on the Celtics

1. Calling All Free Agents to Boston 2. The Mental Asylum: My Green, Stringless Celtics' Hoody 3. Rajon Rondo and Bob Cousy: Similarities and Differences 4. Brian Scalabrine: The Most Popular 12th Man in NBA History 5. Loscy: The NBA's First and Last Enforcer 6. Red and Me by Bill Russell: Book Review Russell is my favorite Celtics' player, who's yours? Drop a comment below. Help a starving artist! Share "Makeup of a Champion" on facebook by using the readcast button on the left column and then pressing the facebook button. That way, I will be able to focus on writing you more quality content.