Bill Russell Set to Receive NBA's First Lifetime Achievement Award

[William F. Russell]

The NBA announced TODAY that Celtics legend Bill Russell will receive the first annual Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards on TNT Monday, June 26. :Isaiah:


Career highlights:
*considered the original GOAT before Michael Jordan
*won 11 chips in his 13-year career with the Boston Celtics
*won 8 straight titles as the undisputed #1 in Boston
*named league MVP 5x
*was a member of the FIRST All-Defensive team in 1969
*coached the Celtics for his final 3 seasons (Cs won in the last 2 years)
*first BLACK American head coach in a major professional American sports league in 1966
*has the Finals MVP trophy after him
*first player to win a college title, NBA title and Olympic gold medal
*won 2 consecutive titles at the University of San Francisco
*received the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2011
*Boston made a statue in his honor placed in City Hall Plaza in 2013
*led the league in rebounding 4 times
*made 11 All-NBA teams
*made 12 All-Star teams
*revolutionized defense as a versatile shot-blocking force by mastering the art of reading the offensive player and the ball to time a block or a rebound
*pioneered transition basketball, seeking to tip blocks to teammates for fast breaks instead of swatting the ball into the stands
*had probably the greatest rivalry in basketball history with Wilt Chamberlain, whom he routinely beat in the playoffs en route to his record number of titles (despite Wilt having 4 inches on him and his stats were often better—especially in scoring)
*became the definition of team success over individual talent





Brehs, this NBA icon is 83 years old. We never know what we have til it's gone.

Say what you want about the Celtics, about Boston, about the style of play in the 50s and 60s...but we MUST cherish our #blackexcellence while we still can. He is the greatest winner in American sports, bar none.

I can't think of a more deserving individual to be given the NBA's FIRST Lifetime Achievement Award.

Can't wait for the NBA Award Show in 2 weeks.

Bill Russell To Receive 2017 NBA Lifetime Achievement Award

Celtics Legend Bill Russell to Receive First NBA Lifetime Achievement Award

 

[cartierhoe]

Very well deserved

 

[Dame Dash's Motor Oil]

Just kidding haha. I wish he played for a team in the city that would have appreciated him more, instead in a place where they broke into his house and took a shyt on his bed. Then they wondered why he ain't wanna play nice and smile in the photos with little cacs


Boston didn't deserve him.

I read somewhere that he was like a savant, a genius in his personal life. That he could remember not just games but specific plays from his college games like 30-40 years later. And that he was so competitive he would vomit before games because he was so nervous. When you combine those traits it's no wonder he had the success he did



People put LeBron in that top 3 ever so easily these days, but Russell and Kareem still have much better cases than him. He still ain't on my Mount Rushmore.

 

[Remote]

If there was a "Mount Rushmore" of the most important athletes of the last 50 or 60 years he would definitely be on it.

 

[Bilz]

I think they hurried to give him the award after seeing how he looked during the finals

 

[Dog Based Gremlin]

played against midget cacs

Spoiler

 

[BucciMane]

Boston stays winning..

 

[#StarkSet]

Does he get 2 extra rings for winning the titles as a coach?

 

[William F. Russell]

Does he get 2 extra rings for winning the titles as a coach?

Well, he won 2x as a player-coach.

I guess so? Maybe? Depends?

 

[V-2]

Quite a bit overdue, no? Great, Great Man.