Bill Russell

What I really took away from Bill Russell: Legend was how one descriptive word doesn't really capture this very complicated sports figure.

Pollard not only got an interview with Russell himself before his death but also with his daughter and colleagues from those Boston years, who speak to “Russell the man” instead of “Russell the legend.” The two-part film details the racism he faced even as he was winning championships and how important equality was to the man who stood alongside [Muhammad Ali](/cast-and-crew/muhammad-ali) as he protested the war and aligned with [Colin Kaepernick](/cast-and-crew/colin-kaepernick) when he took a knee. And yet he couldn’t get the credit he deserved as he was destroying all expectations because of the era in which he joined the game. I was fascinated by stories of a young Russell trying to memorize Michelangelo paintings in library books and then recreating them when he got home, as his gameplay revealed an obsession with body angles. [Sam Pollard](/cast-and-crew/sam-pollard), the brilliant director behind “ [MLK/FBI](/reviews/mlkfbi-movie-review-2021)” and co-director of “Mr. [Bill Russell](/cast-and-crew/bill-russell) is often considered on the Mount Rushmore of NBA players, but “Bill Russell: Legend” also celebrates his importance as a civil rights icon.

With the debut of Netflix's 'Bill Russell: Legend,' filmmaker Sam Pollard tells us what made the Boston Celtics center a blueprint for decades of NBA ...

He took his limitations, and he was able to use them to his best advantages. The thing about the relationship that he and K.C. As you see in the film, it wasn’t like he was going to score more points that Wilt or have more rebounds than him. But he was going to be able to contain Wilt enough so that his team could win. He didn’t quite understand why Bill Russell didn’t sign autographs because he felt—this is what Steph said—that [it is] part of his responsibility as a player. So he didn’t understand why Bill Russell didn’t sign autographs. I remember as a teenager having the conversation with people, “Who’s the better center?” Even as a 14, 15-year-old, I always thought it was Bill Russell because he played the game that was always about the team. And that’s what’s amazing about Russell is that he was really able to give his emotional and intellectual perspective on things. He saw that the notion of artistic creativity could be transferred to the basketball court. By the way, he was the first Black coach in the NBA. He walks away from the Celtics. When you even look at [Black Art: In the Absence of Light](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13937354/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_5_dr), those artists I was aware of before I got involved in that film.

Netflix's documentary 'Bill Russell: Legend' profiles the Boston Celtics icon, from battles with Wilt to his fraught relationship with fans.

But in the absence of that, Legend, with its stark portrait of Russell, a great athlete, an infinitely compelling man, and a bundle of contradictions, will do for now. While he played for the Celtics, Russell lived in Reading, Massachusetts, a northern suburb of Boston, with his wife and children. When his number was retired by the Celtics, Russell opted out of a public ceremony. Some of these eccentricities were just a product of his bigger-picture-seeking mind: it was hard for him, a serious adult man, to ever quite understand the vociferousness of sports fandom, of the parts of himself people wanted and didn’t want on account of his athletic accomplishments. One of his complications was his relationship with the public, of both the Boston and non-Boston variety. Russell was not the sort of guy who let this slide off his back. [MLK/FBI](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/mlk-fbi-doc-sam-pollard-1112813/)), it’s a three-hour-plus survey of the life and career of the [basketball](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/basketball/) legend, civil rights icon, [Boston](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/boston/) Celtic Bill Russell. The Warriors’ spread-and-slash style might seem a million miles away from the Russell Celtics, but it still shares a small shred of DNA in the person of Draymond Green, who, like Russell, is a long-armed defensive menace and playmaker with a nasty competitive streak. Only Wilt managed to get a piece off of Bill in the playoffs, with the 1968 Philadelphia 76ers, one of the NBA’s all-time great teams. He took his massive frame, prodigious springs, and uncanny intellect to the University of San Francisco, where he won two NCAA titles and then to the USA Men’s Olympic Team, where he won a gold medal in the 1956 Games in Melbourne. Jerry West, the Los Angeles Lakers’ irritable guard, took on the Celtics’ machine by emphasizing his jump-shooting game, trying to space the floor and keep away from the danger in the middle. He would also recover the ball himself, find someone streaking on the break — often Bob Cousy, a flashy guard who was the Celtics’ best player in the pre-Russell years — and toss it out to them, while the offensive players who collapsed on the play struggled to get back in transition.

Directed by Sam Pollard, this two-part Netflix documentary tells the story of Russell's achievements on the court, as well as his accomplishments outside of ...

With this powerful documentary, Pollard hopes that it will inspire the men and women of today to dig deeper into the life of basketball legend. In Netflix’s Legend documentary, audiences worldwide are able to get a broader view of the icon’s dominating presence on the court, along with his unwavering character outside of it. While his career was iconic to say the least, it was Russell’s activism and philanthropy that stands as the true measure of his greatness.

The Netflix original documentary, “Bill Russell: Legend” details the life and legacy of NBA icon Bill Russell prior to his passing in 2022, providing yet ...

“More than any athlete of his era, Bill Russell came to define the word “winner,” Obama said. “Bill Russell the man is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men. “He kept shaking his head [and said], “I could tell those two men like each other.” After the game, Mr. Something as simple as a conversation between two men—one Black and one white—was a mile marker of sorts in the journey that Russell was on in his pursuit of racial equality. “His influence is everywhere.”