Any NBA fan knows the legendary photo of Bill Russell holding 11 championship rings. But did you know that not all of the rings in the photo are his? Yes, the Boston Celtics won 11 NBA titles with Russell as the anchor of the team. As it turns out, the players didn’t receive rings for all the titles they won. Let’s take a look at why Russell didn’t actually have 11 NBA championship rings.
Photographer Reveals Bill Russell Doesn’t Have 11 Rings
What Did Bill Russell Get Instead?
On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst talked with legendary NBA photographer Nathaniel “Nat” S. Butler. Nat recently published a must-have book for NBA fans called “Courtside 40 Years of NBA Photography”.
Speaking on the podcast, Nat revealed that Bill didn’t actually get 11 rings. Instead, at the time, after winning a couple of championship rings, the team didn’t get any. Here is how Butler explained the photo.
“Bill Russell did not receive 11 rings, and a lot of fans don’t know that after they won a couple of championships, they no longer got rings so we had to borrow rings from some of the teammates and front office people to signify that particular shot, and there is a lot of folklore involved, and unfortunately a lot of people have passed, but we’re continuing to do an investigative reporting on what they actually received.”
According to the rumors, one year, Russell got cufflinks, and another year he got a watch. But the craziest thing? The Celtics had a deal with Zenith and the guys got a Zenith TV console instead of championship rings.
Legacy of the Photo
Every NBA fan has seen the photo of Bill Russell smiling and holding 11 rings. And since he held rings of other players, Nat had a challenge photographing the greatest winner in NBA history. Speaking on the podcast, Butler said:
“ It was tricky for me to photograph because I didn’t want you know someone else’s name or year visible so it just focused on his eyes, his smile…all everyone knows the oh my God that was legendary it was just for me again.”
Remembering the Great Bill Russell
If you look only at stats, you might not think Russell was a great player due to not scoring in bunches. After all, during his best year, he averaged “only” 18.9 points (as well as 23.6 rebounds). That year, he won his third regular season MVP award and his second in a row. For his career, he averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds. Yet, while his scoring average does not jump off the page, he is the greatest winner this league has ever seen.
He led the Celtics to the Finals 12 times and won a historic 11 championships. In the 12 appearances, he had a record of 45 wins and 25 losses, averaging 16.4 points and 24.5 rebounds per game. What is more significant is that he has an 8-4 record against Wilt Chamberlain, another great player. While Wilt averaged out-of-this-world numbers, he couldn’t beat Russell in the NBA Finals.
Born William Felton Russell on February 12th, 1934, Bill passed away on July 31st, 2022. He was 88 years old at the time. To this day, Russell’s 11 championships as a player remain a record that will likely not be broken. In his name, the NBA renamed the Finals MVP Award to Bill Russell Finals MVP Award in 2009.
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