Russell now in the Hall

[stepson_and_toe]

With the election of Chuck Cooper to basketball's Hall of Fame, Bill Russell accepted his Hall of Fame ring in a private ceremony with his wife and close friends on Thursday.
https://www.theroot.com/bill-russell-ends-44-year-basketball-hof-boycott-but-th-1839895796

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Is there any professional athlete with higher standards?

 

[sezwho]

Are there any human beings with higher standards?

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Excellent reply

 

[Big John]

He's the true G.O.A.T. for those of us old enough to remember how good he was defensively. Those grainy black and white films don't do him justice, and there was no ESPN to broadcast some of his jaw dropping plays.

It's funny, but Red Auerbach really invented load management with Russell, who was always excused from practice. Red know he couldn't sit Russell in games (the NBA was no financial juggernaut in the late 50's and 60's) but he rested him as much as he could.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

He seems like an amazing person. I may have told this story before here, but my sister used to manage a bookstore in suburban Boston that would frequently host writers for book signing events. They had Russell one night and he was the most genuine, gregarious person they ever hosted - having real conversations with all the customers instead of just scribbling his name and saying "Next!" like many of the signers.

 

[stepson_and_toe]

for those of us old enough to remember how good he was defensively.

Saw his first televised game with the Celtics.

 

[bankshot1]

I didn't know this about Russell until I saw this yesterday. Its so indicative of the man that 50 years after his retirement, he remains a world champion. A truly amazing guy.

 

[reggiecleveland]

Never had the honour of meeting him. Some coaches I know have and say he has no interest in x's and os. Once there was a q and a after Russell watched an aau game. He didn't talk about concepts or even take many questions. He called uo kids by number and said specific things to them, mostly praise, but one kid he told 'you don't shoot as well as you think' and called out a big for not running hard. He remembered things like the kid that made the extra pass to get open shots.

One coach said he was really hoping to ask him about coaching, Bill laughed his trademark laugh, "I have been showing you what coaching should be for half an hour son!"

 

[cornwalls@6]

I am (just barely) too young to have watched him play first hand. My first real exposure to him was as an analyst on the CBS NBA broadcasts in the late 70's, where I thought he was outstanding. I happened to go to college with someone from Reading, MA, where a particularly shameful and vulgar racial incident happened to him and his family. He withstood, and ultimately transcended that, and many other indignities, like the warrior he was as a player. A truly great American. I almost always think it's folly to view sports as a morality play, or to view players as anything other than mercenary entertainers. But every so often, someone comes along and defies that. He is high on that list of outliers, right there with Ali, Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, etc. Bravo for his stand on Chuck Cooper(which I never knew about until today), and I'm really glad to see that wrong was finally righted, and he can now fully embrace his rightful place as an HOFer.

Edited for clarity.