A 6ft 10″ Bill Russell was an athletically gifted beast of nature who could jump over an NBA player to dunk the basketball from the free throw line

Akash Murty | 24/07/2022
A 6ft 10", Bill Russell was an athletically gifted beast of nature who could jump over an NBA player to dunk the basketball from the free throw line

Bill Russell had some moments on the basketball court which were proof of him being one of the world’s greatest athletes at the time.

William Felton Russell, a 6’10 freak of an athlete from Oakland, who would be popular by the name “Bill Russell” first came into light at the University of San Francisco.

The Dons aren’t much of a basketball powerhouse these days, but in the 50s they were it. Bill averaged 20.7 points per game during his three seasons with that varsity squad, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956 including a string of 55 consecutive victories, and an unofficial double triple-double with 26 points, 27 rebounds, 20 blocks, 3 steals, and an assist.

Following that, in the 1956 NBA Draft, with some draft-day trickery Celtics and Red Auerbach stole Russell from St. Louis Hawks (now, Atlanta Hawks) in exchange for Ice Capades, Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan. And yes, Ice Capades were the focal point of trade. That move changed the course of basketball history.

The Celtics had drafted a man who would do it all on the basketball floor and off it, would be one of the NBA’s biggest names in the fight against racism in the country, which was horrifying at the time. But, we would focus on how terrifying it was to face the Celtics giant for 13 seasons.

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Even at 6ft 10″, Bill Russell was a beast of nature who could jump over an NBA player to dunk the basketball

Russell went on to spend 13 seasons in the league, all in Boston, winning 11 NBA titles, including two as a player-coach. That giant of a man could literally do everything mentally and athletically possible. Watching this wild fast break dunk jumping over an NBA player would tell you what I am trying to explain.

Bill averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game for his career, earned five NBA MVP awards, 12x All-Star appearances, 4x rebounds title, and wildly lead the league in blocks for probably half his career, but NBA never recorded blocks until 1973-74 season.

But his athleticism was much more than those numbers he put up on the basketball court. He was one of the top high-jumpers in the States at the time (#2 to be precise) and also had a jump in college which kept him as the world’s number 7 at the time.

The legendary old man reminded Kendrick Perkins the same when tried crowning LeBron James as the greatest athlete of all time.

Obviously, the 2008 NBA champ with the Cs had to take his statement back once Bill himself had something to say in the matter.

Also read: A 26-year-old Dwight Howard was already a Hall of Famer before his career-threatening back injury

There might be a lot of arguments about Russell’s greatness, whether he would be as successful as he was if NBA had more competition at that time or whether he would fare that well with modern rules.

Safe to say he would have been a legend of the basketball game, or any other sport for that matter if he had pursued something besides basketball. Anyway, he is and always will be one of the greatest athletes of all time.

 

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Basketball Bill Russell NBA

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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