Meeting Russ

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

I got all of about 30 seconds with Bill Russell last Thursday night, but
what a treat nonetheless. Russ was in San Francisco to debut a new HBO
documentary about his life (as I'm sure you know, he grew up in Oakland
and played ball at USF. In fact, I took a leak with his old college
coach, Hal DeJunius).

The screening was a very private, upscale deal HBO threw. There were a
lot of rather tall, old black men who I kept wondering if I should
recognize; they may have been family or maybe high school teammates.
Then again, there could have been some old NBAers in the crowd. Russ
looked great and his cackle dominated the room. His dad and daughter
were there as well, as was Willie Brown, mayor of SF and apparently a
former college classmate. After yukking it up with the mayor, Russ
briefly introduced the film by saying, "There's one thing they didn't
mention in the film: We kicked everybody's ass."

You guys really must see this film, which debuts on HBO this coming
Monday, May 17. Russell's life and playing career are just ...
awe-inspiring. I didn't realize that he not only won back to back NCAA
championships at USF, but that in his final 2 years they lost only 1
game!!! He then won an Olympic Gold medal before joining the C's, and
took them to their first championship as a rookie. (Listening to Red
Auerbach talk about how the team prior to Russ had everything but a
rebounder and shot-blocker, I couldn't help but think about our current
situation. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any Bill Russells in
this year's draft.) Watching Russell run rings around the other players
takes your breath away. There's also lots of context about his private
life, racism, the Black Power movement, rivalry with Chamberlain, etc
etc.

Besides Russ and Red, there are also interviews with Heinsohn, Cousy,
Hondo, John Thompson, KC & Sam Jones and Satch Sanders. Jerry West, Jim
Brown, our own Bob Ryan and Frank DeFord (who wrote the script) also
show up. Thompson has one of the funniest lines when he recalls meeting
Russell for the first time. Russ was wearing a cape and top hat--he
apparently had this fashion rivalry with Chamberlain--and Thompson says
to himself, 'Now here's an asshole.' Russell also has a hilarious line
talking about the famous "Havlicek stole the ball" incident: that play
was set up when Russ turned the ball over (hit the guidewire, I'm sure
many of you know), and Russ says he told Hondo that "If I hadn't done
that, you wouldn't have been a hero."

As I said, I got to meet Russell briefly after the film. He was getting
tired of being interviewed by the media, so I just shook his hand and
told him I was a huge fan and introduced him to my wife. He was very
polite.

You just can't come away from this film without being deeply impressed
by Russell's ability, intellect, dignity and sense of humor. You also
feel both incredibly proud to be a Celtics fan, and sad as hell to look
at the past decade. You wonder what Tony Battie's game might be like if
he played with half of Russell's passion and ferocity. And you realize
just how good the Celtics have had it.