Today I'm going to talk a little bit about the story of one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His name is Bill Russell and he was born back in the year 1934. His childhood wasn't easy. After the end of the Second World War, his dad lost his job, which led to financial struggles that brought his family to poverty. Also, his mom died in 1946, which caused a change of personality in Russell. He became shy and passed most of the days in the library reading whatever he found interesting.
Many were the times when Bill and his relatives suffered racial abuse, but Russell saw a way out of it: Basketball.
In the beginning, there weren't any real expectations for Bill. No one could have guessed how good he would be. Deep down, Russell knew that basketball was the best chance for him to be able to get his family out of poverty. Also, he believed that, maybe, by becoming an NBA star, he could bring awareness to the racial issues present in his everyday life.
After his college career in San Francisco, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics. His relationship with the people of Boston wasn't great at the time but nowadays he's seen in a much better light. After all, Bill Russell is probably the best player that ever passed by that franchise.
In his career, Russell won an incredible 11 championships and 5 MVPs in only 13 years. And off the court, he had also a huge impact on the mentality about the African-Americans. In 2010 he was even awarded the medal of freedom by President Barack Obama.
In conclusion, Bill Russell is another great man who, to this day, is an ambassador for the fight against racial discrimination, and also an all-time great in basketball history.
João Neves.