NBA legend Bill Russell passes away at 88: A look at his glorious career

Basketball legend Bill Russell, who led the Boston Celtics to win 11 NBA championships, passed away at the age of 88 on Sunday. In a statement posted on social media, his family said that Russell's wife, Jeannine, was by his side. The statement, however, did not give any details on the cause of death.

The Boston Celtics won 11 NBA titles in Russell's 13 years with the team from 1956 through 1969. He was the league's first Black coach. A five-time Most Valuable Player (MVP), he was also outspoken on racial issues. He became a superstar in the 1950s and '60s with his dominating rebounding and intense defensive play that reshaped the game.

Here’s a look at Bill Russell’s extraordinary career:

During his career, Russell led team won record 11 championships, the highest in NBA history. The 11 championships include eight straight titles from 1959-1966. Russell played 13 seasons, which means that he won the championship in all but two of the seasons that he was in the league, which is an extraordinary feat.

During his 13 seasons, Russell was named the NBA's MVP on five separate occasions - 1958, 1961–1963, and 1965. He had the second highest number of MVP Award after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, who won the award six times.

Russell was named an All-Star in 12 of his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics. He didn't make the cut only in his rookie year. He was selected to play in the league's annual midseason exhibition every year and he started in seven of the 12 games and compiled a total of 120 points, 139 rebounds and 39 assists.

Russell made over 21,620 rebounds over the course of his career which is the second highest number of rebounds ever compiled by a player in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain with 23,924 rebounds is ahead of him. In addition to total rebounds, Russell averages 22.5 rebounds per game which is also second after Chamberlain (22.9) who has the highest career rebounds per game average.

Given the proficiency of his rebounding, Russell led the league in the category four times in 1958, 1959, 1964, and 1965.

In 2019, Bill Russell received the inaugural NBA Lifetime Achievement Award which is given by the league to a player who exemplified extraordinary success both on and off the court.

Bill Russell was granted the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former US President Barack Obama in 2011 who said, Russell defined the word ‘Winner’.

Russell has a trophy named after him titled ‘The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.’

The NBA has honoured the game's greats with anniversary teams only on four separate occasions. The first was selected as the 25^th anniversary team in 1971, the 35^th anniversary team was named in 1980, the 50^th anniversary team was selected in 1996 and the 75^th anniversary team was selected in 2021. Russell was one of the four players to be named in all four anniversary teams.

Bill Russell was the first player to win an Olympic medal. He was also the first African-American to coach a major professional sports team when he took up the role with the Celtics in 1966.

Russell was outspoken on racial issues and often criticised Boston, a city with a history of racial strife. He was one of the sports world's leading civil rights activists in the 1950s and '60s and he was on the front row in Washington in 1963 when Dr Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.