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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Bill Russell
Career at a glance
Bill Russell played 13 NBA regular seasons between 1956 and 1969, appearing in 963 games and averaging 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He spent his whole career with Boston (1956–69, 963 games). His best scoring season was 1961–62 with Boston: 18.9 points per game over 76 games.
He rebounded best in 1963–64 at 24.7 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in rebounding 5 times. Championship seasons: 1956–57 (Boston), 1958–59 (Boston), 1959–60 (Boston), 1960–61 (Boston), 1961–62 (Boston), 1962–63 (Boston), 1963–64 (Boston), 1964–65 (Boston), 1965–66 (Boston), 1967–68 (Boston), 1968–69 (Boston).
In the playoffs he appeared in 13 postseason runs (165 games, 16.2 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 14,500 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Russell ranks No. 1 in rebounds per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Bill Russell
William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that played for 12 NBA championships and won 11 during his 13-year career. Russell is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Russell played college basketball for the San Francisco Dons, leading them to consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. He was named NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP), and captained the gold medal-winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. These victories along with his NBA championships made Russell one of only eight players in the history of men's basketball to achieve the Triple Crown.
After being chosen by the St. Louis Hawks with the second overall pick in the 1956 NBA draft, Russell was traded to the Boston Celtics for Celtics center Ed Macauley and small forward Cliff Hagan. With Russell as their starting center and defensive anchor, the Celtics went on to win their first NBA championship in 1957 and won an NBA record eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, Russell's rebounding, defense, and leadership made him one of the dominant players of his era. Standing at 6ft 10in (2.08m) tall, with a 7-foot-4-inch (2.24m)arm span, his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' dominance during his career. Russell also led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds, and remains second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. Russell played in the wake of black pioneers Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Sweetwater Clifton, and he was the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. During the final three seasons of his career (1966–1969), he served as player-coach of the Celtics, becoming the first black NBA coach to win a championship. Russell ended his playing career and left his position as Celtics coach after helping the Celtics win the 1969 NBA championship.
- Born
- February 12, 1934 Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
- Listed weight
- 215 lb (98 kg)
- Position
- Center
- High school
- McClymonds (Oakland, California)
- College
- San Francisco (1953–1956)
- NBA draft
- 1956: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
- Playing career
- 1956–1969
Career highlights and awards
- 11× NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966, 1968, 1969)
- 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961–1963, 1965)
- 12× NBA All-Star (1958–1969)
- NBA All-Star Game MVP (1963)
- 3× All-NBA First Team (1959, 1963, 1965)
- 8× All-NBA Second Team (1958, 1960–1962, 1964, 1966–1968)
- NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969)
- 4× NBA rebounding champion (1958, 1959, 1964, 1965)
- NBA anniversary team (25th, 35th, 50th, 75th)
- No. 6 retired by Boston Celtics
- No. 6 retired by NBA leaguewide
- SI Sportsman of the Year (1968)
- 2× NCAA champion (1955, 1956)
- NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1955)
- UPI College Player of the Year (1956)
- 2× Helms Player of the Year (1955, 1956)
- 2× Consensus first-team All-American (1955, 1956)
- WCC Player of the Year (1956)
- 3× First-team All-WCC (1954–1956)
- No. 6 retired by San Francisco Dons
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011)
- 2× NBA champion (1968, 1969)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956–57† | Boston | 48 | 35.3 | .427 | .492 | 19.6* | 1.8 | 14.7 |
| 1957–58 | Boston | 69 | 38.3 | .442 | .519 | 22.7* | 2.9 | 16.6 |
| 1958–59† | Boston | 70 | 42.6* | .457 | .598 | 23.0* | 3.2 | 16.7 |
| 1959–60† | Boston | 74 | 42.5 | .467 | .612 | 24.0 | 3.7 | 18.2 |
| 1960–61† | Boston | 78 | 44.3 | .426 | .550 | 23.9 | 3.4 | 16.9 |
| 1961–62† | Boston | 76 | 45.2 | .457 | .575 | 23.6 | 4.5 | 18.9 |
| 1962–63† | Boston | 78 | 44.9 | .432 | .555 | 23.6 | 4.5 | 16.8 |
| 1963–64† | Boston | 78 | 44.6 | .433 | .550 | 24.7* | 4.7 | 15.0 |
| 1964–65† | Boston | 78 | 44.4 | .438 | .573 | 24.1* | 5.3 | 14.1 |
| 1965–66† | Boston | 78 | 43.4 | .415 | .551 | 22.8 | 4.8 | 12.9 |
| 1966–67 | Boston | 81* | 40.7 | .454 | .610 | 21.0 | 5.8 | 13.3 |
| 1967–68† | Boston | 78 | 37.9 | .425 | .537 | 18.6 | 4.6 | 12.5 |
| 1968–69† | Boston | 77 | 42.7 | .433 | .526 | 19.3 | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Career | 963 | 42.3 | .440 | .561 | 22.5 | 4.3 | 15.1 | |
| All-Star | 12 | 28.5 | .459 | .529 | 11.5 | 3.2 | 10.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957† | Boston | 10 | 40.9 | .365 | .508 | 24.4 | 3.2 | 13.9 |
| 1958 | Boston | 9 | 39.4 | .361 | .606 | 24.6 | 2.7 | 15.1 |
| 1959† | Boston | 11 | 45.1 | .409 | .612 | 27.7 | 3.6 | 15.5 |
| 1960† | Boston | 13 | 44.0 | .456 | .707 | 25.8 | 2.9 | 18.5 |
| 1961† | Boston | 10 | 46.2 | .427 | .523 | 29.9 | 4.8 | 19.1 |
| 1962† | Boston | 14 | 48.0 | .458 | .726 | 26.4 | 5.0 | 22.4 |
| 1963† | Boston | 13 | 47.5 | .453 | .661 | 25.1 | 5.1 | 20.3 |
| 1964† | Boston | 10 | 45.1 | .356 | .552 | 27.2 | 4.4 | 13.1 |
| 1965† | Boston | 12 | 46.8 | .527 | .526 | 25.2 | 6.3 | 16.5 |
| 1966† | Boston | 17 | 47.9 | .475 | .618 | 25.2 | 5.0 | 19.1 |
| 1967 | Boston | 9 | 43.3 | .360 | .635 | 22.0 | 5.6 | 10.6 |
| 1968† | Boston | 19 | 45.7 | .409 | .585 | 22.8 | 5.2 | 14.4 |
| 1969† | Boston | 18 | 46.1 | .423 | .506 | 20.5 | 5.4 | 10.8 |
| Career | 165 | 45.4 | .430 | .603 | 24.9‡ | 4.7 | 16.2 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 10″
- Weight
- 215 lb
- Position
- Center
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1956
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 2
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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