The St. Louis Hawks had a significant role in launching Bill Russell into a NBA career with the Boston Celtics.
In April 1956, the Celtics traded for the rights to the Hawks’ first-round draft spot and used it to take Russell. Eight months later, when Russell made his NBA debut with the Celtics, it came in a game against the Hawks.
A five-time recipient of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award who helped the Celtics win 11 league championships, Russell was a center who revolutionized the game, excelling at rebounding, blocking shots and playing defense. He died on July 31, 2022, at 88.
Draft moves
With the tandem of Russell and guard K.C. Jones, the University of San Francisco won consecutive NCAA basketball championships in 1955 and 1956.
Russell generally was regarded as the best amateur basketball player in the country, but at the NBA draft on April 30, 1956, the Rochester Royals used the first overall pick to take Duquesne guard Sihugo Green.
According to the New York Times, money was a factor in the Royals’ decision. The Harlem Globetrotters were expected to make a lucrative offer to Russell and the cash-strapped Royals didn’t want to get into a bidding war with them.
Defending the choice, Royals owner Lester Harrison called Green “the best all-around player in the country, bar none,” International News Service reported.
Russell told the San Francisco Examiner, “I think Rochester made a good choice for its No. 1 man. I always said Sihugo and my friend, K.C. Jones, were the two best ballplayers I ever looked at.”
(Green played in nine NBA seasons, including four with the Hawks, and finished his career as Russell’s teammate with the 1965-66 Celtics.)
Please come to Boston
After the Royals selected Green, the Hawks, with the No. 2 overall pick, had the chance to take Russell. Like the Royals, though, the Hawks didn’t think they could afford him, especially if the Globetrotters bid high, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York Times reported.
The Hawks also were looking to generate local interest. In the 1955-56 season, their first since moving from Milwaukee to St. Louis, they finished 33-39. Club owner Ben Kerner thought Celtics center Ed Macauley, a St. Louis native who had been a standout performer at St. Louis University, was just the sort of popular local player the Hawks needed to attract customers.
In exchange for Macauley, the Celtics got the Hawks’ draft spot and used it to select Russell.
Two days later, on May 2, the Celtics sent Cliff Hagan to the Hawks in a cash transaction. Kerner said the acquisition of Hagan “had nothing to do with” the deal for Russell, the Post-Dispatch reported. Over time, though, several publications, including the Post-Dispatch, reported the transaction as Macauley and Hagan to the Hawks for Russell.
(The Celtics made quite a haul in the 1956 draft, getting K.C. Jones and Tommy Heinsohn of Holy Cross in addition to Russell.)
After acquiring Russell, Celtics coach Red Auerbach told the Boston Globe, “He’s the greatest defensive center I’ve ever seen.”
Russell said to the San Francisco Examiner, “I was pleased when I heard I was drafted. It was flattering to know they thought enough of me to pick me among the first.”
The Celtics in 1950 had become the first NBA team to draft a black player, Chuck Cooper.
Decades later, in a 2013 interview with Bill Simmons that aired on the NBA’s TV network, Russell, discussing the trade to acquire him, said, “St. Louis was overwhelmingly racist. If I would have gotten drafted by St. Louis, I wouldn’t have been in the NBA.”
Great expectations
Though drafted, Russell remained an amateur so he could play for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics. The Games at Melbourne, Australia, were held Nov. 22 to Dec. 8.
After helping the U.S. win a gold medal, Russell returned home and got married. He and his bride arrived in Boston on Dec. 16. Three days later, Russell signed a one-year $17,000 contract with the Celtics.
“He is one of the most publicized performers to join a Boston team in years _ and if he lives up to his advance notices he will belong in a class with Ted Williams,” columnist Harold Kaese wrote.
Jack Barry, who covered the Celtics for the Globe, wrote, “Bill Russell may revolutionize the game of basketball … Russell could be the first player to become a drawing card on his defensive ability.”
After three practice sessions with the Celtics, Russell was deemed ready to play in a regular-season game. His first opportunity came on Dec. 22 against the Hawks at Boston Garden.
Arnie Risen, in the NBA since 1948, was the Celtics’ starting center that Saturday afternoon. Russell came off the bench, totaled six points (he missed eight of 11 shots and all four free throws), but grabbed 16 rebounds and excelled on defense. Boxscore
“Demonstrating his great defensive strength,” Russell “three times went high into the air to block shots by Bob Pettit, generally considered the NBA’s top big man,” United Press reported.
Risen told the wire service, “He’ll block a shot by any man who shoots straight away in front of him. Fellows will have to be very tricky to score against him.”
(In a 1999 interview with the Globe’s Bob Ryan, Risen said, “I feel flattered when I hear Bill Russell say I was his mentor. I’m not so sure that isn’t just an old friend boosting a teammate. If I did anything for him, it was to tell him what to expect from the other players in the league, and to help him with our offense.”)
Russell said to United Press, “I have to admit I was very nervous. I was very tight all the way. My shooting was way off and I was just plain lousy at the foul line.”
Regarding his four missed free throws, Russell said to the Globe, “I choked.”
Auerbach told United Press that Russell “revealed his potential but also his greenness.”
Celtics owner Walter Brown said to the Globe, “I don’t care if he can’t shoot, as long as he gets those rebounds and cuts down some of those guys who have been murdering us for years.”
True greatness
The Celtics won the NBA championship in Russell’s rookie year, beating the Hawks in the final round of the playoffs. The next season, the Hawks won their lone title, prevailing against the Celtics in the finals.
After that, Russell and the Celtics dominated, winning eight consecutive NBA championships from 1959 to 1966.
Russell had several strong performances against the Hawks, including:
_ 37 rebounds on Dec. 23, 1966. Boxscore
_ 35 points on Nov. 14, 1961. In that game, the Hawks’ Clyde Lovellette, averaging 23 points a game, “couldn’t cope with Russell’s defensive tactics” and was held to two points, the Associated Press reported. Boxscore
_ 29 rebounds and 26 points on Nov. 21, 1962. Boxscore
_ 28 points and 27 rebounds on Feb. 4, 1964. Boxscore
In 1966, Russell became the NBA’s first black head coach. In three seasons as player-coach of the Celtics, Russell led them to two NBA championships.
Russell five times led the NBA in rebounding. The top three career rebounders in the NBA are Wilt Chamberlain (22.9 per game), Russell (22.5) and Pettit (16.2).
During the 1960s, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a teen named Lew Alcindor at Power Memorial High School in New York, he saw the Celtics play many times at Madison Square Garden.
“The man I studied was Bill Russell,” Abdul-Jabbar said to Bob Ryan. “I learned so much. Watching him, I learned the dynamics of the game, and how to win.”