4.4 • 34.4K Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2022
⏱️ 46 minutes
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0:00.0 | This is Freshair. |
0:01.2 | I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross. |
0:03.8 | Bill Russell, one of the most iconic players in Pro Basketball history, died Sunday at |
0:08.8 | the age of 88. |
0:10.5 | Russell was a big man who was the game's first noted shot blocker and his rebounding and |
0:15.2 | passing made him the ultimate team player. |
0:18.2 | He led the Boston Celtics to eight straight NBA titles, 11 in all in his 13 seasons. |
0:24.5 | He was a five time league most valuable player. |
0:27.5 | In 1967, Russell became the NBA's first African American head coach when he replaced Celtics |
0:33.3 | coach Red Hourback. |
0:35.4 | Russell served as a player coach for three years. |
0:38.8 | Russell had an uneasy relationship with Boston fans. |
0:42.2 | In 1987, his daughter wrote an essay detailing the racism Russell had faced, including racist |
0:48.3 | vandalism visited upon the family home in 1960. |
0:52.6 | Russell refused to sign autographs and when his number was retired by the team in 1972 |
0:57.4 | he insisted it be at a private ceremony at the Boston Garden. |
1:02.5 | Russell was also active on civil rights issues. |
1:05.0 | He joined the 1963 March on Washington and was in the front row for Martin Luther King's |
1:09.8 | I Have a Dream speech. |
1:11.7 | He went to Mississippi after civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered. |
1:16.0 | In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom. |
1:21.6 | Terry spoke to Bill Russell in 2001 when he published a book called Russell Rules, 11 |
... |
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