Bill Russell: Everything to Know About His Netflix Documentary

NBA legend Bill Russell died on Sunday, and the entire sports world is paying tribute to one of the greatest champions in history. It’s likely the NBA will do something special for Russell when the 2022-23 season begins later this year, but also it looks like Netflix is also paying tribute to the 11-time NBA champion. Earlier this year, Netflix announced it is working on a documentary about Russell. The release date was not announced, but the documentary will be directed by Sam Pollard and produced by Larry Gordon, Ross Greenburg and Michael Richardson. 

The documentary, which is untitled, will take a look at Russell becoming an accomplished NBA champion and “Civil Rights icon,” according to the official synopsis. In his basketball career, Russell didn’t just win in the NBA as he won two state titles in high school and a Gold Medal at the 1965 gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Russell, 88, is arguably one of the 10 best players in NBA history. Along with winning 11 NBA titles, Russell was named NBA MVP five times. He was also named to the All-Star team 12 times in his 13-year career, was selected to the All-NBA team 11 times and was the rebounding champion of the league four times. Russell was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team but was also selected to the 25th Anniversary, 35th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary teams. He also won the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. 

“To me, I was a better offensive player than a defensive player,” Russell said in an interview with Alan Paul in 2018. “By the end of my first year, I always put the offense in motion, and after a year or two almost all the plays went through me. In fact, Havlicek said after I left, he missed me more on offense than on defense.”

Paul also asked Russell about being the player/coach for the Celtics in the later stages in his career. “Red [Auerbach] offered me the job first and I said I wasn’t interested,” Russell said. “So he asked if I had any recommendations and said that he would not hire anyone who I didn’t approve of 100 percent, because I had meant too much to the franchise. I had some ideas, but we couldn’t work out a deal. Frank Ramsey, who was my first choice, couldn’t leave home. [Bob] Cousy couldn’t get out of his contract at Boston College and so on. Red came up with one last name, and I just wasn’t going to play for that person, so I decided that I would, in fact, do it.”