Bill Russell: "My first memory of life is that my mother and father loved me"

Ever like a celebrity and you're not really sure why? Or maybe you don't know much about him/her, but you just say they are amazing. Well, for me I grew up admiring Bill Russell.

I'm not sure why. Maybe I heard my dad say good things about him. Maybe I just liked that he had 11 championships in his 13 NBA seasons. Maybe I liked that he was known for block shots (even though it wasn't even a stat in his day). Growing up, I would always say Bill Russell is the greatest basketball player of all time. I never watched him play. I didn't have the eyeball test. I trusted what I read and heard. I was and still am a stat guy(team and individual stats) and he has a lot of stats in his favor. I think the stat that always stands out to me is that he won the NCAA championship two straight seasons before going to the NBA. So he won the ultimate team championship in his respective league 13 out of 15 years. So it wasn't just a Celtic thing, he started in college!

I can say the same about Pele. Never watched him play a full game, but I've seen the highlights and heard the stories and 3 out of 4 World Cups in his generation to Brazil, can't lie. Also, 1282 goals in 1366 games, need I say more!

They are legends of their game and what is even better about them is what they do now for their sport. Bill is always working with young centers in the offseason on blocking shots. Pele is bringing a World Cup back to Brazil. They are always helping grow their sport and do it with a smile on their face. They are great role models for the younger generations in their sport.

Why do I bring this up? Well there was a really good interview with Bill Russell and Chris Webber before the All-star game. Watching the interview, you can quickly see the great sense of humor that Bill Russell has and he mixes that with well spoken profound thoughts on so many different topics. You can see that he was competitive enough to get aggressive and dig down to win games, yet he always understood not to take the game and life too seriously. Russell just seems to enjoy life which is even better than those 11 NBA rings he has.

When asked the question: what gave you confidence to believe in yourself?
He replied: "I had the best pair of parents....My first memory of life is that my mother and father loved me"

Even though I didn't know much about him growing up, as I slowly learn more about him, I am really glad I have Bill Russell to look up to in my childhood and now my adulthood. He is truly a great man. If you haven't heard him laugh, it is truly genuine and contagious and it's worth a youtube search.


I hope to find the interview with Chris Webber and post it here soon!