Celtics, NBA great Bill Russell dies at age of 88

Celtics great Bill Russell (Sports Illustrated Vault photo)

Basketball great Bill Russell, who won 11 NBA championships with the Celtics, has died at the age of 88, his family said in a social media post.

"Bill's wife, Jeannine, and his many friends and family thank you for keeping Bill in your prayers," the post read. "Perhaps you'll relive one or two of the golden moments he gave us, or recall his trademark laugh as he delighted in explaining the real story behind how those moments unfolded. And we hope each of us can find a new way to act or speak up with Bill's uncompromising, dignified and always constructive commitment to principle. That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6."
Russell became the first black head coach in American sports history, replacing coaching icon Red Auerbach. He then went on to win two more championship while playing center.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement that Russell was "the greatest champion in all of team sports. Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league."
A five-time MVP and 12-time All-Star, Russell finished with 21,620 career rebounds - an average of 22.5 per game - and led the league in rebounding four times. He had 51 rebounds in one game and 49 in two others and posted 12 straight seasons with 1,000 or more rebounds. Russell also averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists per game over his career.
Until Michael Jordan's exploits in the 1990s, Russell was widely viewed as the greatest player in NBA history.
"I was an innovator," Russell told The New York Times in 2011. "I started blocking shots although I had never seen shots blocked before that. The first time I did that in a game, my (high school) coach called timeout and said, 'No good defensive player ever leaves his feet.'"