No one was thinking about Bill Russell. He was 31 years old and at the peak of his mighty powers. But after both Frank Ramsey and Tom Heinsohn said no thanks to Red, he ran it by Russell.
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“Red asked me if I wanted the job, and I took a long time thinking it over,” Russell explained. “I kept thinking, ’Do I think I could do a good job? Would I be the best man?’ I finally went to Red and told him I’d take it.”
It turns out he was indeed the best man, delivering two more titles in his dual role as player and coach. And now in September he will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for the second time, joining John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Lenny Wilkens, and Heinsohn as the only people to be elected to the Hall of Fame as both player and coach.
We don’t want to bury the lead here. Russell’s appointment was historic. It did not exactly go unnoticed that he was the first person of color to be the head coach of a major American professional sports team. We are talking 1966. Yes, the legendary John McLendon had preceded him by coaching the Cleveland Pipers in Abe Saperstein’s short-lived American Basketball League in the early ’60s, but to 99 percent of the sports-loving public, the ABL was a rumor. Russell’s selection made headlines.
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“This is one of the most personalized challenges I have had in my 10 years in the league,” Russell said. “Do I think I can do the job without any prejudice? Yes, the most important thing is a man’s ability on the court. I’m not worried about that.”
Right away, some wondered whether Red would be the puppeteer and Russ would be the marionette. Red quickly put that one to rest.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Red said. “I think it’s great for basketball. I won’t have to say, ‘Go out and get them’ to him. I won’t sit near the bench. He’s going to be the boss.”
By the way, Russ the Player gave Russ the Boss the old thumbs-up. “I’ll be playing for a coach I love,” he joked.
It was, of course, a veteran Celtics team, which was going to make Russell’s life easier. And those vets breathed a hearty sigh of relief because the system obviously wasn’t going to change.
“It was a great choice,” said Satch Sanders, a teammate for six years. “I thought it was an easy decision on Auerbach’s part. Everything was in place.”
Russell knew his stuff when it came to basketball, but he was not a know-it-all, which was important.
“He told us right away that if anyone saw something, or had an idea, don’t hesitate to present it,” recalled Wayne Embry, who shared the Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award with Russell and George Raveling at last week’s delayed Class of 2020 enshrinement.
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How would Russell be in the discipline department? The answer came quickly.
“It was my first training camp,” said Embry. “Somebody did something Russ didn’t like. He had us run. And run. And run. We must have gone a full hour without touching a ball. Suicide drills. All kinds of drills.”
A coach has to adopt many roles during the course of a season. A pat on the back here, a kick in the butt there, etc. And sometimes he has to step in to save a player from himself.
“Every time we went to Cincinnati, people wanted John [Havlicek] to do this and do that, and he always wanted to accommodate everybody,” Russell once explained. “The demands on him were unbelievable.
“He came to me and said, ‘Russ, what am I going to do? I can’t say no.’ I said, ‘If it’s something borderline, or something you’d rather not do, you come to me in front of the whole team and ask for permission in front of the guys. I’ll say no. I’ll be the heavy.’ ”
He took his coaching role so seriously that every once in a while he needed to be reminded just who his most important player was. Everyone else knew all Russ had to do to answer that question was look into the mirror, which he was sometimes reluctant to do.
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“Russ wanted to do more coaching than playing,” said Sanders. “He was taking himself out so he could observe things from the bench, things like that. He was still our best player. I said, ‘Russ, you’ve got to get back out there, baby. Take care of business.’ ”
‘Russ wanted to do more coaching than playing. He was taking himself out so he could observe things from the bench, things like that. He was still our best player.’
Satch Sanders
The Celtics’ run of eight straight titles ended in Russell’s first year. Philadelphia was just better that year. Russell’s great rival Wilt Chamberlain finally got a ring. And there is no doubt the world at large thought the Celtics were now officially yesterday’s news.
Ha!
The Celtics came from 3-1 down in the Eastern Conference finals the following year, winning Games 5 and 7 in Philadelphia. Russell’s gang next took down the Lakers yet again in the Finals. Bill Russell was now officially a championship coach.
But the ultimate drama was ahead of them. After finishing fourth in the Eastern Division in 1968-69, the Celtics were underdogs in each playoff series. Philly fell first, followed by the much-improved New York Knicks. The final obstacle would be the Lakers. Chamberlain had joined the club, combining with Laker mainstays Elgin Baylor and Jerry West to form what the world regarded as the first super team.
West opened up with a 53-point Game 1. The Lakers won Game 2 also, and no team had come from 0-2 in the Finals. But these were the Celtics, and it all came down to a Game 7 in LA’s new home, the Fabulous Forum.
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Russell says he wasn’t worried.
“I knew they couldn’t win it,” he said. “I just knew it. At the beginning of the game, I told Bailey Howell it was literally impossible for them to beat us. it was just not possible for them to beat us.”
The final score was Boston 108, LA 106. Russell hauled in 21 rebounds in what would be his final game as both player and coach.
“I wouldn’t trade this bunch of guys for any other bunch of guys in the world,” he said. “We see each other as men and we judge a man by his character, not how well he plays, or anything like that.
“You can see things we’ve achieved as a group and it’s definitely thrilling.”
Russell would later coach the Seattle SuperSonics for four seasons, twice making the playoffs. He simply says, “I saved that franchise.” A later abbreviated run in Sacramento was a mistake. No matter. He had proven his coaching skill in Boston.
And Boston is where his allegiance will always lie. Once upon a time, NBC’s Hannah Storm introduced him as “Hall of Famer Bill Russell.”
Oops.
“No, Hannah,” he corrected her. “Make that Boston Celtic Bill Russell.”
Well, not quite. Let’s make that “Multi-Hatted Boston Celtic Hall of Famer.”
Bob Ryan can be reached at robert.ryan@globe.com. Follow Bob on Boston.com at Globe 10.0.
The Link LonkMay 21, 2021 at 04:56PM
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/21/sports/when-red-auerbach-needed-coach-1966-bill-russell-was-right-man-job/
When Red Auerbach needed a coach in 1966, Bill Russell was the right man for the job - The Boston Globe
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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