Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion as a player and coach with the You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and one of the most important figures in You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. history, has died at the age of 88, his family announced Sunday. Russell passed away peacefully with his wife Jeannine by his side. His family released the following statement.
"It is with a very heavy heart we would like to pass along to all of Bill's friends, fans & followers:
Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon.
Bill's two state championships in high school offered a glimmer of the incomparable run of pure team accomplishment to come: twice an NCAA champion; captain of a gold-medal-winning US Olympic team; 11 times an NBA champion; and at the helm for two NBA championships as the first Black head coach of any North American professional sports team.
Along the way, Bill earned a string of individual awards that stands unprecedented as it went unmentioned by him. In 2009, the award for the NBA Finals most valuable player was renamed after the two-time Hall of Famer as the 'Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.'
But for all the winning, Bill's understanding of the struggle is what illuminated his life. From boycotting a 1961 exhibition game to unmask too-long-tolerated discrimination, to leading Mississippi's first integrated basketball camp in the combustible wake of Medgar Evans' assassination, to decades of activism ultimately recognized by his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo, and with a powerful example that, though never his humble intention, will forever inspire teamwork, selflessness and thoughtful change.
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