Bill Russell Net Worth
What is Bill Russell’s net worth?
Bill Russell is a former American basketball player with a net worth of $10 million. Russell is one of the best professional basketball players of all time. He is the first African-American player to achieve superstar status. Bill Russell played for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969 and won 11 NBA championships in the process. With 5 MVP and 12 All-Stars, he was the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. In addition, Russell was the captain of the gold medal-winning US basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Despite his achievements, Russell continued to fight racism. Because of his outstanding contribution to the NBA, Russell was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the National University Hall of Fame.
early life
Bill Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1934 to Katie and Charles. When Russell was eight years old, the family moved to Oakland, California, where they lived in a series of public housing projects. His mother died soon after. As a teenager, Russell attended McLemonds High School, where he won back-to-back state championships as a basketball player in his junior and senior years. Although college recruiters mostly ignored him, Russell received the only acceptance letter from the University of San Francisco and received a scholarship. At the University of South Florida, he became the core of a team that later developed into a major force in college basketball, winning the NCAA championship in 1955 and 1956. In addition to basketball, Russell also represents the University of South Florida in track and field sports. He is particularly good at high jumps; in 1956, he was named the seventh highest jumper in the world.
1956 Olympic Games
Before entering the NBA, Russell was the captain of the US basketball team at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics. Under the leadership of head coach Gerard Tucker, he defeated the Soviet team 89-55 in the final and helped the team win the gold medal. Overall, this team dominates the game, averaging 53.5 points per game.
Boston Celtics Championship
In December 1956, Russell played his first game in the Boston Celtics against the St. Louis Eagles. Thanks in large part to his strong defense, the Celtics ended the season with a 44-28 record, which is the team’s second best record since the start of the 1946-47 season. Subsequently, in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Russell scored 16 points and 31 rebounds, led the Celtics to sweep the Syracuse Nationals, won the team’s first chance to enter the finals, and ultimately won the championship. The next season achieved greater success, when the Celtics won 14 consecutive games. Russell averaged 16.6 points per game and a league record of 22.7 rebounds per game. In the 1958-59 season, the Celtics broke the league record with 52 victories. The team continues to regain the NBA championship.
In 1960, the Celtics broke their record again, winning 59 games in the regular season. In the finals that year, the team won the third championship in four years. This was the beginning of the Celtics’ legendary journey. The team subsequently won the NBA championship seven times in a row, which is unmatched by any professional sports league in the United States. During this period, Russell was known for his extraordinary blocking, man-to-man defense and rebounding.
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Coaching and final game year
In the 1966-67 season, with the retirement of Celtics coach Red Auerbach, Russell was appointed as the new head coach, becoming the first black head coach in NBA history. The following season will be the first real loss of Russell’s career as the Celtics are dominated by the Philadelphia 76ers and rising Wilt Chamberlain. In the penultimate season, Russell regained the victory as a player. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the 76ers again, the Celtics started 1-3 behind. However, the team rallied and won the next three games in an incredible way. Subsequently, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in the Finals and won Russell his tenth championship title.
Despite his renewed success, Russell reached a breakthrough point in his final season. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy shocked him, disillusioned with the Vietnam War, and he was convinced that he was wasting time on such trivial things as basketball. As a result, he gained weight, skipped NBA coaching meetings, and lacked energy on the court. However, he finally cheered up and led the Celtics to the Finals again against the Lakers. Russell won by a narrow margin, winning his 11th historic championship in 13 years.
Post-match career
After retiring, Russell became the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics from 1973 to 1977 and the head coach of the Sacramento Kings from 1987 to 1988. Neither term was particularly successful. In addition to coaching, Russell became a vegetarian, started playing golf, and worked as a color commentator for CBS and TBS. In 1979, hosted “Saturday Night Live”. In the 1990s, he rarely appeared in public as a hermit living in Mercer Island, Washington.
In 2006, Russell became the first member of the National College Basketball Hall of Fame and was recognized for his influence on college basketball. The following year, he received honorary doctorates from Suffolk University and Harvard University. Russell was also inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame.
personal life
Russell married his college sweetheart Rose Swisher in 1956. They have three children together: Karen, William Jr. and Jacob. The couple divorced in 1973. Russell subsequently married former Miss America Dorothy Anstedt in 1968; they divorced in 1980. Later, in 1996, Russell married Marilyn Knott until her death in 2009.
