BILL RUSSELL

Bill Russell’s pre-game routine was unusual and it never varied. He would sit in the locker room, joking and playing cards, and then dash to the bathroom to throw up before the tip-off. As coach Red Auerbach said of him, he gave everything he had in his pursuit of perfection. Russell himself said he had dedicated himself to trying to win every game he played.

Russell so dominated basketball as a University of San Francisco collegian that the NCAA had to widen the foul lane from six to twelve feet. His impact on Boston was immediate; in his first season, 1956-57, the Celtics won their first championship. Boston had enjoyed a high octane offense with Cousy and Sharman before Russell’s arrival, but lacked the rebounding and defense it needed to win the title.

Slender as NBA centers go, Russell relied as much on analytic ability and peripheral vision to position himself for rebounds as he did upon his physical prowess. In the history of the NBA, there have been only 24 games in which a player pulled down 40-plus rebounds and Russell accounts for eight of these. He averaged 22.5 rebounds in regular season play and 24.9 in 165 postseason games.

Never a high scorer, Russell changed the way basketball is played by demonstrating that defensive genius wins games. His ability to block and alter shots not only intimidated and disrupted opponents but also unleashed the Boston offense. The Celtics scored many of their points when he grabbed the defensive rebound and flipped it to Cousy to unleash the team’s fabled fast break.

Comparing him to Joe DiMaggio, Eliot Kalb says Russell is the greatest winner in the history of basketball. Both men played for 13 seasons and neither compiled the flashiest of statistics. Ted Williams outshone DiMaggio as a hitter while Wilt Chamberlain is considered by many to be the greatest offensive player in NBA history. DiMaggio’s Yankees won ten pennants, however, and were 9-1 in the World Series. Russell’s Celtics won 11 championships and were 11-1 in NBA finals.