Bill Russell.

Bill Russell. Bill Russell, born in 1934, American basketball player, coach, and television sports announcer, often considered the finest defensive player of all time. Born William Felton Russell in Monroe, Louisiana, Russell's experiences with discrimination as a young child helped make him assertive about African American rights as an adult. He moved with his family to Oakland, California, and became an all-state basketball player in high school. He went to the University of San Francisco and joined the college basketball team, which won National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles in 1955 and 1956. Russell delayed turning professional after graduation in 1956 in order to play on the United States team that won the men's basketball gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Selected by the Boston Celtics in 1956 in the first round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, Russell gave the team the dominating center that it previously had lacked. The Celtics won the NBA championship in Russell's first season, finished second the next year, and in 1959 began a string of eight consecutive NBA championships. In 1966, Russell became a player-coach for the Celtics, the first black head coach in major league professional sports, and won two more championships before he retired in 1969. He collected more than 21,000 rebounds and scored more than 14,000 points in his career, and was voted the NBA's most valuable player in 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1965. Russell subsequently worked as a television sports announcer and coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 1973 to 1977. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974. Russell returned to basketball to coach the Sacramento Kings for the 1987-1988 season. He served as vice president of the Kings in 1988 and 1989. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.