Continuing the Zone's look at pioneers in the NBA, today's (late) profile looks at the first black player to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. He also won 11 titles in 13 seasons, including eight straight from 1959-66, records that will never be achieved again. He is all-time Celtics great Bill Russell!

Bill Russell was born February 12, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana. Russell grew up in a highly segregated society before moving to Oakland, Califonia at age 8. Russell initially struggled at basketball, even being cut from his junior high school team. Eventually, Russell became a solid ballplayer at McClymonds High School. Despite this, he wasn't offered a scholarship until University of San Francisco's Hal DeJulio took a chance, convinced that Russell had an extraordinary instinct for the game.

At San Francisco, Russell led the Dons to two NCAA championships (1955-56), averaging 20.7 PPG and 20.3 RPG during his career. John Wooden, the coach of the UCLA Bruins, called him "the greatest defensive man I've ever seen." Russell also excelled at track and field, competing in the 440 yard race and the high jump. After his senior season, he rejected an offer from the Harlem Globetrotters, enraged that owner Abe Saperstein talked to his coach and not himself. Declaring for the draft that season, the Boston Celtics had their eyes on him. According to legend, Celtic owner Walter Brown told the Rochester Royals (owners of the first pick) that the Ice Capades would be steered through town for a couple of years, and they chose Sihugo Green. The St. Louis Hawks then took Russell, but then the Celtics traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to the Hawks for Russell. With that trade (one of the most important in NBA history), the seeds for a dynasty were planted.

After missing most of the first half of the 1956-57 season with a commitment to the U.S. Olympic team, Russell made an immediate impact; in 48 games, he averaged 14.7 PPG and 19.6 RPG (his RPG average was tops in the league, but the title was given on total rebounds, which meant Maurice Stokes won the award). Russell led the Celtics to a league-best 44-28 record and their first NBA title, dispatching the Hawks in seven games. The following year, Russell won his first league MVP award (scoring 16.6 PPG and a league-record 22.7 RPG), but was injured during the Finals, and the Hawks won the series in six games. Russell would never lose another NBA Finals again.

Russell was among the greatest rebounders in NBA history; in ten of his thirteen seasons, he averaged over 20 RPG (career best 24.7 in 1963-64), and the Celtics record book doesn't list an all-time blocked shots leader because the stat wasn't kept during his career. Russell made twelve All-Star Games (1958-69) and was game MVP in 1963. Russell added four additional league MVPs (1961-63, 1965) and was the first player ever to win three straight MVPs (Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird are the others). And his rivalry with Chamberlain helped put the NBA on the national map for the first time, as each awed their audiences with their sheer athleticism. But in the win column, Russell was far superior, even though Chamberlain usually won the stats battle; he finished with a 85-57 regular season mark against Chamberlain, and lost just one playoff series to him. But it was the string of championships that is most impressive; the Celtics reeled off eight straight titles from 1959-66; no other major sports team has more than five straight. The Lakers were the biggest victims of the Celtic dynasty; they lost six of the 12 Finals Boston played during Russell's career.

After the 1965-66 season, Russell made history yet again, when he replaced Red Auerbach and became player/coach of the Celtics; he thus became the first African-American head coach in modern American sports. After stumbling in the 1967 playoffs (losing to Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers in the division finals), Russell led the Celtics to two straight titles to finish his career; it would be another 19 years before another NBA team won back-to-back titles. In game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals (in what would prove to be his final game), Russell was handed a copy of a program that showed how the Lakers would celebrate their expected title win. Russell said "it's going to be fun to see them take out (the baloons) one at a time", and Boston won 108-106. Several months later, Russell retired as player/coach. In the ensuing years, he would coach at Seattle and Sacramento (with less success), and work in broadcasting with both ABC and CBS. But it is as a winner that Bill Russell will most be remembered. And that's exactly how Russell would prefer it.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1956-57: 48 GP, 14.7 PPG, 19.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 42.7 FG%, 49.2 FT%
1957-58: 69 GP, 16.6 PPG, 22.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 44.2 FG%, 51.9 FT%
1958-59: 70 GP, 16.7 PPG, 23.0 RPG, 3.2 APG, 45.7 FG%, 59.8 FT%
1959-60: 74 GP, 18.2 PPG, 24.0 RPG, 3.7 APG, 46.7 FG%, 61.2 FT%
1960-61: 78 GP, 16.9 PPG, 23.9 RPG, 3.4 APG, 42.6 FG%, 55.0 FT%
1961-62: 76 GP, 18.9 PPG, 23.6 RPG, 4.5 APG, 45.7 FG%, 59.5 FT%
1962-63: 78 GP, 16.8 PPG, 23.6 RPG, 4.5 APG, 43.2 FG%, 55.5 FT%
1963-64: 78 GP, 15.0 PPG, 24.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, 43.3 FG%, 55.0 FT%
1964-65: 78 GP, 14.1 PPG, 24.1 RPG, 5.3 APG, 43.8 FG%, 57.3 FT%
1965-66: 78 GP, 12.9 PPG, 22.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, 41.5 FG%, 55.1 FT%
1966-67: 81 GP, 13.3 PPG, 21.0 RPG, 5.8 APG, 45.4 FG%, 61.0 FT%
1967-68: 78 GP, 12.5 PPG, 18.6 RPG, 4.6 APG, 42.5 FG%, 53.7 FT%
1968-69: 77 GP, 9.9 PPG, 19.3 RPG, 4.9 APG, 43.3 FG%, 52.6 FT%