Russell Lends Old Insight to Young Celtics

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Russell Lends Old Insight to Young Celtics

By Peter Stringer
NESN.com staff
October 4, 2000
Bill Russell has 11 Championship rings and 10 fingers. But he only wears two of them. One from 1957, when he helped the Celtics win their first of eight straight titles, and the other from his final campaign in 1969 when he closed his career as a champion player-coach.
"Brackets," says Russell. "This one's kind of small because the Celtics buying them that year. We never wasted any money."
Then Russell erupts into his trademark laugh. If you talk to him for more than a minute, you're guaranteed to hear it, and it's unmistakable, not to mention infectious. You can't help but chuckle when he lets out that bellowing laugh. Just it's sound alone, which starts in a high-pitched near squeal and ends in a sternum-shaking repetition of exhalations, is enough to make you drop your guard and get comfortable.
Once reluctant to speak with the press, Russell is downright engaging, peppering his remarks with laughter that erupts from his soul and engulfs the conversation.
Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA Champion, legendary Boston Celtic and perhaps the greatest winner in the history of team sport, Russell closed out his astonishing NBA career before all but one of the current Boston Celtics were born.
Reserve guard Randy Brown holds that distinction, and in his preseason media guide bio it says that he would challenge Wilt Chamberlain if he could play one-on-one with any player in NBA history.
If he wants any pregame advice, he could always turn to Chamberlain's chief rival, who was milling around the HealthPoint training facility on Monday during the Celtics' media day. Russell would surely oblige; he's been with the team since last year as a special consultant at the request of Coach Rick Pitino, and he'll speak the gospel according to Russell at length. All you have to do is ask.
"I don't really do that much work with them as much as I counsel. Because I can't say, 'If you do it this way it will make you better.' Because what worked for me won't necessarily work for them," said Russell.
One concept he's always stressed that will work for players of any generation is creating your offense from your defense, a concept Pitino has tried to hammer home with the Celtics over the last three seasons; that's the main reason he has Bill Russell checking in with the team periodically. Russell was around the team during their summer league and after a brief sojourn to Seattle where he makes his home, Russell will return to training camp to lend a hand and preach the word of defense, teamwork and hard work.
What might surprise you about Russell, though, is that he doesn't buy into the line that today's players are lazy and don't want to work hard once they get big contracts. While other old timers seem to hold a disdain for the attitude they perceive of the new generation of basketball players, Russell thinks that there are guys in the NBA who work just as hard as he did in his day.
That refreshing attitude probably makes it easier for young basketball players to relate to Russell, even if his accomplishments on the court border on the surreal and will almost certainly never be duplicated. Russell is more concerned with what he can help these players do, not what they won't be able to repeat. And he doesn't believe that today's player doesn’t give the effort.
"We worked hard, and they work hard. But some of the fundamentals are different. So the hard work manifests itself different," said Russell.
Even when these guys are millionaires at 22?
"The money's irrelevant. You go into a situation, and these are the economics of the situation. Players have to earn their way into the league by playing well enough to get into the league. I have never encountered a player who says, 'I've got my money, I don't have to work.' I've never talked to a player that I thought felt that. If you're on the outside looking in, you can make assumptions. Ninety-five percent of the time, assumptions are not true," said Russell.
"I hear that a lot; that's just not true. It's like Bill Gates, the billionaire. He still has to work to run Microsoft. You take guys the same age as these guys in the high tech industry, making all this money, you'll find that old timers will say the same thing about them as they say about the ballplayers. You would never say that Bill Gates doesn't work as hard because he's got all that money. Same thing with these ballplayers. These guys work hard."
As hard as Russell worked? As hard as a guy who averaged 22.5 rebounds per game over his career, which is perhaps the statistic that most reflects the most individual effort?
"If you compare guys to the way I worked, the only guys you would have to compare me with are, who are the top guys in the league? Do they work hard? Because I worked hard and was able to excel," said Russell. "The guys who are excelling are they guys that work the hardest."
As much as he's willing to credit today's stars, Russell isn't ready to surrender his throne among the basketball gods. A reporter asked Russell about Shaquille O'Neal, implying that he dominates the game today similar to they way Russell did in his own time.
"Well, let's see. He was the MVP and they won one championship," said Russell, who then paused before unloading that machine gun laugh. "Seriously, he's a dear friend of mine and I admire him, personally and professionally. He's a better-than-decent human being and a good guy, and a hard-working professional."
Another pause.
"But I don't get carried away. . ."
Another laugh.
Still, for a guy who seems to laugh about everything, he's dead serious about trying to help young basketball players with basketball and life, and not necessarily in that order. Because the lessons he's teaching aren't exclusive to a parquet floor and a peach basket.
As for the Celtics, Russell sees a young talented squad that has the potential to be a contender. And his assessment should carry quite a bit of weight.
"If this team is a unit, they are a playoff team," said Russell. "What makes championship teams is effort. It's not extra effort, but a profound effort. It's not like we've got to do something extra tonight; we've got to do this tonight and every night. All out effort has to be the foundation, at the beginning, not the end."
The Celtics are beginning their journey this week as training camp opens. With a young team that looks to fifth-year player Antoine Walker as its star, they have plenty of hard work ahead of them if they've got their eyes trained on their first playoff appearance since 1995.
Peter F. Stringer is a NESN.com staff writer. Material from wires and other sources may have been used in this report. Questions and Comments are welcome through Feedback