Boston Celtics center Bill Russell (born 1934) earned a place in the National Basketball Association's Hall of Fame as the greatest defensive player in the history of the league and one of the greatest players of all time.

Bill Russell was an unlikely superstar. Lanky and shy, he came into the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a center for the Boston Celtics and remained with that team for the duration of his playing career. At six-feet-ten-inches tall he was larger than most had ever seen. He was talented, not in scoring points like other basketball stars, but in stopping his opponents cold in their tracks. At the bidding of his coach he avoided shooting the basketball altogether, yet his affinity for teamwork and his ability to relay the ball to the point-makers on his team successfully earned for the Celtics 11 NBA championships. The glory of Russell's talent was, at...