On this episode of the Warriors Podcast, we pay tribute to the loss of basketball's greatest champion, and NBA pioneer, Bill Russell. Tim Roye chats with 3x NBA champion, NorCal native Bill Cartwright who followed in Russell's footsteps at the University of San Francisco, and we turn back the clock to a conversation that Jim Barnett had with Russell himself.
Garnering Respect
Roye and Cartwright discuss Russell being around the Warriors and the response that the players had to him.
Roye (3:54): "It really struck me for all of the talk we have about how the younger generations don't respect the older generations, but when he walked into the room; when he was in the gym, the reaction was unbelievable. The respect that he was given by younger players who had never seen him play, I thought it was remarkable."
11x NBA Champ
Cartwright talks about the impact that Russell had on the court, from his time at the University of San Francisco to the Boston Celtics.
Cartwright (6:43): "His first year there, they win a championship. Eleven championships in 13 years. It's just nothing short of amazing. To have that kind of dominance, that's what really made him different than anybody we'd ever seen in basketball."
Using His Platform
Roye and Cartwright speak on Russell's fight for justice off of the court, along with other athletes of his generation.
Cartwright (14:04): "It makes those guys heroes. These guys were able to use, by whatever means, their platform to stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves.
"With [Russell], Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, that made those guys heroes. That really separated them from everybody else."
Russell Talks to Barnett
From the Warriors archives, listen to a conversation between Jim Barnett and Bill Russell that discusses Nate Thurmond, Al Attles, McClymonds High School, Russell's favorite championships, being a player/coach and much more.