William Felton Russell
finally has his statue and there's a lot to say about the man (as there probably is about most people we see fit to immortalize in bronze).
An NBA.com feature story posted today offers some great insight into Russell's superlative character and spirit – into the great variety of words and deeds that have made him so special, both on and off the basketball court. It's well worth a read. As Celtics fans know, however, his most enduring legacy
on the court is as a Winner, with a capital "W."
You know his résumé. You know about the back-to-back NCAA titles at the University of San Francisco; the gold medal at the '56 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia; and, of course, that stunning run of 11 NBA championships over 13 seasons between '57 and '69. You know, too, the well-tread story that Russell was so competitive and so emotional that he nearly always vomited before games, and that Red Auerbach became more unsettled when he
didn't vomit than when he did.
Bill Russell made Kevin Garnett seem low-key.
What you may
not know is that Bill Russell also had a gentler side – the soul of a poet. Which brings us to the Coolest Bill Russell Quote You've Never Heard.
