Best of - Bill Russell: Giant of a Man

When the NBA playoffs come around each year, it's always worth revisiting the story of Bill Russell.  Russell was the force behind the most astonishing winning streak in the history of sports. His team, the Boston Celtics, won eleven NBA championships between 1957 and 1969, eight of those in a row. Russell changed the game of basketball, with his incredible speed, and his ability to block shots as no player had done before. When he took over as coach of the Celtics (while still playing on the team), he became the first African-American coach in the NBA. In this episode, Russell talks about his life in basketball, and he describes how the racism he confronted on and off the court, shaped him as a player, and led him to become a civil rights activist. This episode was originally published in April of 2017.  (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2017-2021