Bill Russell Research Paper

Did you know Bill Russell was known for playing basketball in the NBA? Bill Russell was born on February 12, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana. When he was 10, his family moved across the country to Oakland, California and his dad worked in a shipyard. In California Bill 's mother became very sick and died. After Russell 's mom died he began to play basketball for McClymonds High School in Oakland but by his senior year he earned a starting spot. His 6´9” height had some attention going to it. He tried out for the University San Francisco and earned a scholarship.

After he graduated at McClymonds High School he went to college and became an NBA basketball player for the Boston Celtics. He won eleven championships in his thirteen years of playing.

He participated in the 1963 march on Washington for Civil Rights and defended Muhammad Ali when he refused to serve in the military on the basis on his religious beliefs. He was the first black to become a head coach of any major sports, and he still was coaching his own team while he was actively playing for the Boston Celtics and he won two times. Like a lot of retired athletes he has co-written autobiographies and unlike other retired athletes his are worth reading and re-reading. When he was told he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame he declined to serve but he was inducted anyways. In 2011, Barack Obama gave Bill Russell the highest civilian honor. When the ceremony was going on president said they wish they would build a statue of Bill Russell for all his NBA basketball games and for earning the honor that Barack had honored him with that day. The statue was designed by Ann Hirsch, a Somerville based artist. Hirsch approach focuses on the body, movement and traditional sculpture technique to create spaces for interaction that enhance the experience of a place. He said that “I hope that one day in the streets of Boston, children will look up at a statue built not only to Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the