The late, great Bill Russell was undoubtedly one of the greatest players in NBA history. No one has won as many championships. Winning was part of his DNA. He was the ultimate leader and a true legend.
Russell was an 11-time NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966, 1968, 1969), 5- time NBA MVP (1958, 1961–1963, 1965), 12-time NBA All-Star (1958–1969), 11-time All-NBA Team member, 4-time rebounding champion and a 2-time NCAA champion.
During his active playing career, he also became huge rivals with the other superstar of that era, Wilt Chamberlain. They set and broke a lot of records – a huge amount of which still stand today – but their rivalry also caused for some, lets say petty, yet hilarious moves.
One of these ‘petty’ moves was Bill Russell’s salary negotiation with the Boston Celtics, after Wilt Chamberlain had signed a new contract in 1965, that had him become the first player in NBA history to make more than $100,000 a year.
59 years ago today, this contract led to Russell demanding from the Celtics that his salary would be raised to exactly one dollar more, not only to remain the NBA’s highest paid player, but also to earn more than his arch-rival Wilt Chamberlain.
