The other is the tireless defender of human rights who despised the city he played basketball in for a living for the abuses which take place in it with regularity. And while there may be a grain of truth to both narratives, the reality of Bill Russell was far more nuanced in his greatness, a reality the director of his new Netflix documentary tried to capture.
“The one thing Bill Russell always said: he loved being a Boston Celtic,” shared “Bill Russell: Legend” director Sam Pollard in a recent interview with WEEI’s Meghan Ottolini.
KG opened up about the beloved clip played in blowout wins since his time with the Celtics at his jersey retirement ceremony. https://t.co/DbJUzfUPdI
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 13, 2023
“He just didn’t love the folks in Boston,” suggested Pollard. “That’s what he always said. He loved being a Celtic.”
Given how much respect he was shown by the organization (and how little, at times, so-called fans did as well), this take rings truer than either of the one-dimensional caricatures cited above.
“It was one of the most prideful things in his life.”
In the annals of NBA trash talkers, there have been few on the same level as Hall of Fame Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird. https://t.co/AGb4o9VpfP
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 13, 2023
Noting the short memories we have as humans in terms of framing the debate of who a sport’s greatest players are, Pollard explained how the documentary hopes to capture the nuance of Russell not only as a game-changer in the literal sense but also with how athletes use their platforms for good today.
“You look at what Bill Russell did in the 60s, out there challenging Boston busing, and he went down to Mississippi after the death of Medgar Evers – he was at the march on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King. Bill Russell was front and center. You can see that legacy in LeBron James and all those players who took a knee after Colin Kaepernick took a knee. They’re standing on the shoulders of Bill Russell. That’s what’s amazing.”
“Bill Russell took the knee in response to Colin Kaepernick, that says so much about who Bill Russell was then and who he was in latter years,” added Pollard.
What are the highest scoring games of Jaylen Brown’s career with the Boston Celtics? https://t.co/rK5RQZFxVL
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 13, 2023
The goal of the documentary, for Pollard, is that we learn that “not only was Bill Russell one of the greatest basketball players to ever step on the court for the NBA, he was politically and socially a very active human being who understood it wasn’t only about being a basketball player.”
That we understand that for Russell, it was about “being a human being and an African American at a very tenuous time in American history.”
The documentary is available now on Netflix for fans of Russell, the Celtics, the NBA, and history. Be sure to check out the full interview with Pollard here.
Brown has put down real roots in Boston since joining the Celtics. https://t.co/KvQj7Bhzfi
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 13, 2023
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