BILL RUSSELL
Lifetime Achievement Award
Bill Russell has lived a lifetime of achievements. As a basketball legend, a leader on and off the court, and as a man, Bill defines the word "champion".
HBO Sports hailed Bill as "The Greatest Winner of the 20th Century" while Sport Illustrated named Russell "The Greatest Team Player on the Greatest Team of All Time". Bill is the ultimate winner, having won an unprecedented eighteen championships in twenty-one years of playing basketball.
A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All Star, Bill Russell was the centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career.
Russell is noted as the best defensive player in NBA history. His shot blocking, man-to-man defense, and rebounding abilities played a major role in the Celtics success. In Russell's own words, "To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a group of men coordinating their efforts toward a common goal, alternately subordinating and asserting themselves to achieve real teamwork in action. I tried to do that; we all tried to do that, on the Celtics. I think we succeeded."
Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956) He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as a member of the United States national basketball team.
Bill's accomplishments on the court are almost endless, but his achievements and work off the court continue to make him a true winner and the ultimate team player. He knows the qualities and values it takes for a team to win. In 1967, Bill broke the color barrier, becoming the first African-American Coach in American major league sports. He has been an aggressive advocate for civil rights and diversity and has served as a global ambassador of basketball, partnering with the NBA and the U.S. State Department to bring the sport to Africa, On behalf of the NBA and his country, Bill has visited and hosted clinics in over 50 countries on 6 continents, sharing his love for the sport. He was the first NBA player to visit Africa in 1969, and he first visited China in 1979. Bill aided in making the NBA the international powerhouse it is today and was awarded the NBA's first Civil Rights Award. Bill is a pro in the art of "winning", finding ways to win in sports, in business, and in life.
As an award-winning author, and in-demand public speaker, Bill has been able to share his insights on leadership, teamwork, winning and success, and demonstrate why the name Bill Russell is synonymous with those qualities. In his third best seller, Russell Rules, Bill says "finding a way to win in life and business has little to do with your station in life. There are opportunities everywhere, and you must take advantage of them." Bill Russell has become an American icon and more accurately, he's an American original.
