More on Russell

["Josh Rice" <joshr@home.com>]

I can't say enough about Russell - he is the most inspirational athlete I
have seen in my 50 years of watching sports. He set standards that made both
the players AND the fans around him better. He dismissed and ignored all
bullshit (statistics, interviews, poses, trash talk, etc) and made players
and fans think about team play. He taught me how to watch hoops, what to
look for and value in a player or a team. He made me think about what it
takes to be a winner on and off the court. When you watched Russell you had
to figure out what the hell he was doing that was so effective - he would
totally dominate a game and only score 14 points. It seemed he made players
and fans aware of his presence without actually doing anything. I have never
seen a player in any sport have that kind of impact. The only one who is
close is Mohammed Ali.

The rest of you have talked about his game - I want to talk about his
dignity, his impact as a personality. It was 1964, I was in the garden for a
game, I was 17, JFK and Martin Luther King dominated the cultural landscape,
and Bill Russell stepped on the court leading the first all-black starting 5
in the NBA. These guys were beyond "black pride" or any of the superficial
media equal rights hype. They were about winning. Russell somehow freed them
from the bullshit that was distracting most black athletes of that period
and let them simply play to win. When they walked on the court, goatees
jutting and eyes twinkling, everybody smiled. No kidding, people felt better
just seeing the joy in their faces and the bond between them. Did they win?
It was a non-issue, of course they won, even when they lost it felt like
they won because you knew they'd win when it counted. And they always did.

Bird was (and is) a wonderful athlete and a great personality, with some of
the qualities I am talking about, but Bill Russell was one of a kind.

josh