Russell coming out of the shadows

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RE-EMERGING: Russell, ex-Celtic legend, steps from shadows 

By Richard Sandomir 

THE NEW YORK TIMES


Suddenly, Bill Russell is back in the public, emerging from his quiet life on 
Mercer Island, Wash., as the white-bearded icon of teamwork. 

Russell, a Boston Celtics legend, is now an ''original,'' who suggests that 
viewers ''ask for an original'' Coors beer in a commercial. He was the 
subject of an HBO documentary that he and his adviser pitched and the 
recipient of a $400,000 deal to write a book on leadership. 

He's in demand as a motivational speaker at $25,000 a speech. He's now so 
available to the Celtics that he attends events such as last Sunday's cookout 
for season-ticket holders. 

Russell, 66, last wore a Celtics uniform 31 years ago, and last coached, to a 
17-41 record, at Sacramento 12 years ago. Then he seemed to disappear, more 
in the manner of Sandy Koufax, with occasional sightings, than the 
full-bodied reclusiveness of J.D. Salinger. 

Why resurface now, and with such gusto? 

At first Russell said he didn't know. ''I'll see if I can figure it out,'' he 
said during one of two telephone interviews. ''Can I call you in a week or 
two?'' 

Then he said, ''I wanted to be forgotten.'' 

The thinking behind Russell's planned renaissance wasn't his. 

''My plan was to fade away,'' he said. ''I've tried to keep my life as small 
as possible. I have some good friends, and I have fun.'' 

But that wasn't what his business adviser, Alan Hilburg, and Russell's 
daughter, Karen, wanted for him. In the summer of 1998 they convinced him 
that the end of the millennium would spawn retrospectives and lists about the 
20th century's greatest athletes and that he had to tell his story -- or 
others would. 

''We talked about how much of today's generation doesn't know basketball 
existed before Magic, Larry and Michael,'' Hilburg said. ''Bill told me that 
one of his grandchildren asked him, 'Were you as good as Michael Jordan?' '' 

They convinced Russell that his singular identity -- the ultimate team-sports 
champion -- was valuable, but dormant. Russell played on teams that won two 
NCAA championships at the University of San Francisco, an Olympic gold medal 
and 11 National Basketball Association titles in 13 years. But Jordan's 
Chicago Bulls, with six NBA titles in eight years, had come to symbolize the 
greatest generation. 

''I was comfortable with going home and closing the door, but Alan and my 
daughter and a few friends said that wasn't right,'' Russell said. ''They 
said I shouldn't take my accomplishments in silence. While I'm not completely 
comfortable with this, I can put myself in a frame of mind where I'm not 
uncomfortable.'' 

Russell's deference to his daughter and his adviser indicates an apparent 
easing of his need to go his own way. 

''When I was active as a player, I always felt I was the only one on the 
planet who knew what he was doing,'' he said. Tom ''Satch'' Sanders, a former 
Celtics teammate, said: ''Everything's always been a personal choice with 
Russell. He's charming if he wants to be. He's capable of doing a lot more, 
but he never wanted to. But he was visible on the golf course.'' 

Bob Cousy, another Celtics teammate, added, ''He's mellowed and is allowing 
himself to reach out and communicate with people who want to have a 
relationship with him.'' 

Inside their unit, Cousy said, Russell was outgoing and witty, but when faced 
with racism on the outside, he was uncommunicative. 

''I think he's concluded that there's good and bad, but you can't be consumed 
with the bad,'' Cousy said. 

Russell Redux is, in essence, a product relaunch designed to emphasize 
Russell's championship pedigree, not to deal with his image, ingrained with 
the public as enigmatic and aloof. 

He still declines to sign autographs, preferring to speak to a fan or shake 
his hand instead. He distinguishes between autographs for fans or teammates 
and corporate deals to sign goods for a fee to sell to serious collectors. 

The plan to revive the Russell brand took shape in September 1998, when 
Hilburg invited Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated to meet with Russell in 
New York. 

''Russell couldn't say it out of modesty,'' Deford said, ''but Alan said to 
Bill, 'The millennium is fading, and you're fading; you've got to make an 
effort to come out.' '' 

Hilburg wanted Deford's input and wondered if he wanted to write about 
Russell in Sports Illustrated. Deford's positive response led Hilburg to ask 
if HBO Sports, where Deford also works, would want Russell's cooperation for 
a documentary. Russell's name hadn't been on HBO's radar screen as a possible 
subject because network executives assumed he was unavailable. 

Deford's article was published in early May 1999, three weeks before 
Russell's No. 6 uniform jersey was retired in an emotional ceremony at the 
Fleet Center in Boston. In 1972, Russell had demanded that his uniform be 
raised to the Boston Garden rafters with no fans present. But because the 
Fleet Center gala was organized by Karen Russell to benefit the National 
Mentoring Partnership, Russell's favorite charity, he agreed to a public 
ceremony. 

The event attracted a longtime nemesis, Wilt Chamberlain; Russell's former 
coach, Red Auerbach; former teammates; and Larry Bird and Kareem 
Abdul-Jabbar. The crowd's standing ovation moved Russell to tears and a 
rapprochement with Celtics fans.



Hilburg said he and Russell are wrapping up two more deals and are seeking an 
Internet deal. Russell has also agreed to write the leadership book for 
Dutton.



Published: June 22, 2000