All language subtitles for Celtics.City.S01E02.2160p.WEB.h265-EDITH

There's only one way to stop

being haunted by
the ghosts and the legends

and the champions
inside this building.

It is banner 18.

Boy, I don't know.

That's heavy too.

Bill Russell
would be so proud.

The 2024 Bill Russell Finals
MVP goes to Jaylen Brown.

Y'all smile, man.

We just won.

MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP.

Jaylen, knowing what
Bill Russell meant to you,

to have your career
tied to him in that way,

what does that mean?

To be honest, I can't even
put it into--to words...

What he's meant for me
through my Boston journey.

I don't even know what to say.

It feels unreal.

To get one
of the highest honors

at the Bill Russell MVP Award,

it's just amazing--

his legacy of pushing
society forward

through sports,
through culture,

and everything that he's done
to get to this point.

People don't realize
how hard it is

to play in the city of Boston.

It's Titletown.

You got to have
a not-give-a-fuck mentality

to persevere through that.

Bill had firm beliefs,
and he stood alone.

Fast forward to 2024 or
any team in Celtics history,

and he's set a precedent,

not only to win,

but win in the way that
the people stand with you,

because you stand
with the people.

The Boston Celtics
are the world champions.

Oh, my.

Oh, my.

This place has gone crazy.

I have traveled this country
from one end to another.

For the championship,
Boston leading 3-2

in this best four
out of seven series.

There's no discounting
the effect that Russell has.

I come back
to Boston, Massachusetts,

with a stronger feeling
of confidence.

50 seconds to go.

Hope of knowledge
of the vitality

and energy of this society
and our people.

West the Lakers.

Shot blocked by Russell.

Than I could have
ever had before.

The Boston Celtics have won
their unprecedented

fifth world championship
in a row.

Oh, here's the team
at the White House.

Yeah, that was pretty cool.

John F. Kennedy.

Oh, my gosh.

In '63, after we won
the championship,

we had gotten a chance
to meet the president,

who was clearly well thought of
in Massachusetts.

Being from here, he was a fan.

And he was just
one of the guys.

It was a great visit.

And so when I left,

it was easy to say,
hey, take it easy, man.

A few months later,
he was killed.

President Kennedy is dead.

It was like
a member of the team

or a member of the family

or someone close to you
had just died.

All you know is
that he was gone.

This is Birmingham,
the South's mightiest

industrial city as
the world knew it this week.

These are the front lines
of the battle between

Dr. Martin Luther King's
Negro disciples of nonviolence

and the uniformed forces
of Birmingham.

During the year of 1963,

this was a moment in
American Civil Rights history

where there's a growing sense
of racial revolution coming.

We'll be demonstrating here

until freedom comes to Negroes

here in Jackson, Mississippi.

And Bill Russell starts
actively inserting himself

into the Civil Rights struggle

that connects the local
to the national.

Here come the Celts,
fast breaking.

Bill Russell was the first
real true Black superstar

in the NBA.

Bill Russell.

Blocked by Russell!

In Boston, there is a big
freedom march in alliance

with the Birmingham campaign.

And Bill Russell is
at the forefront here.

And it challenged
many white Bostonians

about what Black athletes could
do and what they couldn't do.

Are you saying
there are white people

who will never accept
Negro people?

Is that what you mean?

Sure, and there are
Negro people

that will never accept
white people.

This thing is
all about people.

You say the name
Bill Russell--

that's the name.

Celtics fans,
please welcome Jaylen Brown.

It's really hard
to find words

that kind of represent someone
whose presence was so large.

Bill Russell was a great man.

During the peak of racial
tension in our society,

he represented a type
of nobility and honor

that transcended sports.

There's a lot of things
that have happened

that have led
to the systemic inequality

that Bill Russell spoke to.

From someone coming from
almost two generations away,

just how it's impacted me,

it's the ultimate respect.

In the 1964 finals,
the Celtics play

the San Francisco Warriors.

Bill Russell against
Wilt Chamberlain.

Here come the Warriors.

96-95.

21 seconds to go.

That's the same season
where he's constantly

getting barraged about
whether the Celtics

can win without Bob Cousy.

Quickly, one second.

It's all over.

The Boston Celtics now lead
three games to one.

In game five, Russell
showed up in an all-black suit

and he said,
it's my funeral suit.

He was there to bury
the Warriors.

Russell blocking.

The most remarkable season
was 1964.

Bob Cousy retired.

So we had to adjust the tempo.

With this type of personnel,

we can go anyplace
in the world

and beat any team that
was ever put together.

This is the dream team.

This is the kind you could
stay up for years and years

trying to get together.

The genius of Red Auerbach

was the players
who played for him.

They had one of the most
unique players

in the game, Bill Russell.

They had a backcourt
of Sam Jones.

This shot is a beauty.

And KC Jones was tenacious.

He played right up on you.

After the game, you'd have
scratch marks all over you.

Heinsohn really has
a hot hand.

The lessons
for the Celtics was...

Havlicek.

To work with each other
and respect each other.

I call the Celtics
basketball's Cosa Nostra.

Cosa Nostra means our thing.

Russell over
to Havlicek shooting.

The Celtics lead 101 to 99.

The rebound is snuffed in
by big Bill Russell.

That clinches it.

It's Boston's sixth
consecutive NBA title.

No team in professional sports
ever has won

that many consecutive
playoff titles before.

At the same time that
Russell's helping the Celtics

achieve greatness,
Russell saw the way

that racism shaped Black lives.

Medgar Evers,
his killing as a demonstration

of the blind
and murderous hatred

which obsesses
too many Mississippians.

This is a very dangerous
situation.

After I've seen
what the people,

the Negro people of Mississippi
are going through,

my contribution is
very, very minute.

When Medgar Evers
was assassinated,

it seemed to have a pretty
profound effect on Russell.

It was in the midst
of his burgeoning

political involvement
that was driven by

this sense of personal crisis.

Back in Boston,
he participates in something

called a Stay Out For Freedom
Day in this struggle

to try to make sure that there
is a more genuine integration

of the city schools.

They called it
the March on Washington

for Jobs and Freedom.

I didn't know
that people didn't

grow up going to marches.

And my dad, you know,

literally marched

with Martin Luther King.

In the 1963, '64 season,

Russell is emerging as
a particularly controversial

figure in American sports.

I said in print
that there was a quota.

And everybody said,
there's no quota.

We got to think
about attendance.

If you got a game that's
dominated by Black guys,

too many Black players,
people won't go see them.

There were unspoken rules
about how many

Black players you had
on the floor at an NBA game.

The idea of Black quota
was a huge deal.

That year, we had gotten
a player, Willie Naulls.

Willie Naulls,
checking in on the lineup

now for the Boston Celtics.

And when Tom Heinsohn...

Heinsohn has time to aim
and that's all he needs.

Hurt himself, it was natural

for Naulls to become a starter.

Willie Naulls feeding
Bill Russell for a dunk shot.

Bill Russell,
Satch Sanders, Sam Jones,

KC Jones, and Willie Naulls
were the first

Black starting five in NBA
history when I was growing up.

The Celtics starting
five Black players

violated every quota,
not just in the NBA,

but in sport
at the time in America.

Within the sporting world,
that is as significant

as the March on Washington
speech,

because it's a shot across
the bow of everybody.

Are we going to play
the best players we have?

I was so proud to see
that that happened.

That's why I could
name them off right now.

I'm 73, and I'm still proud

to be able to say
that I witnessed that.

Bill Russell has written
this book here

called "Go Up For Glory."

And we're very proud to welcome
this great athlete.

I wrote it
on three levels--

as a professional athlete,
as a Negro, and as an American.

It says right on the back
of the book here,

co-author William McSweeny.

"Go Up For Glory" was
written in three days

on that old war correspondent
typewriter there.

It was a good typewriter,
very smart.

When we wrote
"Go Up for Glory,"

Russell and Rose,

and to our astonishment,
everybody said

this changes the realm
of sports writing.

When Bill Russell wrote
"Go Up For Glory,"

he is critical of the patterns
of race within the NBA itself.

And that can include
critiques of the Celtics

and Red Auerbach.

Bill Russell is not saying
that Auerbach is

hostile to racial justice,

but more so that it's not
his primary agenda

in a way that it is
for Bill Russell.

I tried to isolate us from it
as much as I could.

Your job to support your family
is to play basketball.

I said, let's keep
our concentration

on the basketball.

People have made it
complicated,

but I don't believe it is.

I think he just felt you just
get the best players to win.

He wanted to draft
Chuck Cooper

or Bill or whoever,

who's going to stop him?

It didn't occur to him,
I don't think,

that he was making a statement
or making history.

This is my dad's father,
and this is my dad's mother.

My grandmother was born
in the States,

and my grandfather came
from Russia

or Belarus or somewhere.

I grew up
in the Williamsburg section

of Brooklyn.

It was a melting pot.

In Brooklyn,
he learned, you know,

you're no different
because you're Jewish,

and he's no different
because he's Black.

We're all people.

When my father went
to Boston,

it was eye-opening,
to say the least.

Boston is the intellectual
capital of the country

and perhaps the world,

and yet you have
really segregated areas

and schools and points of view.

South End,
Roxbury, Dorchester,

Chinatown, Downtown Crossing.

All this is just walking
down the street.

You could fit
the entirety of Boston

in the borough of Brooklyn.

Boston is the size
of Shaq's left shoe.

I grew up where
you go down this street,

you're in Roxbury.

You go down that street,
you're in South Boston.

South Boston is a place

we didn't go when we were kids.

Uh-uh.

South Boston was a world away.

South Boston was
100% segregated,

100% flawlessly segregated,

as was almost all of the city.

Black people were not
standing waiting for a bus

in South Boston, ever.

When I was in high school,
they could be killed for that.

And they knew it.

The message of hate expresses
itself very clearly.

And Bill Russell, of course,
takes it exactly as he should.

News started to seep out

about Russell having
issues with Boston.

I live here,
and so I could not stand by

in comfort and relaxation.

When I see people doing things
to other citizens,

I am offended.

I would like this to be a place

where we do things
for each other,

not things to each other.

I don't think they were ready
for a Black athlete,

let alone
a world-shaking Black athlete.

I was very aware of some
of the sportswriters

and their attitude
to Bill Russell.

The older sportswriters,

they all called basketball
African handball.

They said, I don't know,
you're going to go see

the African handball tonight?

Russell said, you know,

I really don't play
for the city of Boston.

I play for the Celtics.

You know, basically,
I can't stand Boston.

I like this picture,
our Uncle Bill.

First, Dad was living with Bill
and his wife, Rose.

And then when Dad got married,
Mom and Dad got married,

then Mom and Dad lived
with the Russells for a while.

Yes.

KC and I, we had been
married maybe a few weeks.

We lived at
Bill and Rose's house.

And it was either two or three
FBI men came to the door.

They had a letter.

And they said, this letter
was sent to the Garden.

And it was a threat
against Bill's life

and the kids and his wife.

They used the N word.

This man said he was going
to kill them all.

I don't think
we ever fully felt safe.

One night, we came home

and found that
we had been robbed.

The house was in shambles.

Someone had destroyed
all of his trophies.

And when my parents went
to go to bed,

they pulled back the sheets,

and someone had defecated
in their bed.

I think that thing that was
scary about him in Boston

was not feeling like
he could keep my mom

and my brother safe.

In those days,
our road uniforms said Boston.

Red got sick and tired
of things

that were happening in Boston
outside of the Celtics

that gave him concerns
that our team was not

playing for
the city of Boston,

as the uniform would suggest.

Red ordered new uniforms
to show that

they did not represent Boston,

and they represented a team,
the Celtics.

Honestly,
before I got to Boston,

I was kind of scared.

When I got drafted,
they booed me.

We're very glad that
Jaylen Brown is a Celtic.

Thank you very much.

Even though things were
in a different context

and a different
period of time,

doesn't make it any less
severe or any less impactful.

So paying attention to history
has also given me

a greater context
into where we're at now.

And it makes a lot of sense
why this organization

has been a pioneer for social
justice movements in society.

Hello, hello. Hello, sir.

Meet me at the grocer.

No, sir.

During the '60s,
Bill Russell did not

get love from everywhere.

But God damn it,

Roxbury, South End, Mattapan
loved that man.

WILD was Boston's
Black radio station,

and Bill Russell had
his own jazz show.

He would come on
for a couple hours,

and he would just play
his favorite jazz stuff

and everybody would tune in.

Nobody ever talks about

the other sides
of Bill Russell.

He's always this surly,
standoffish man,

and they never talk
about the joy

or they never talk
about the love

he experienced
for the community.

However, it's something
we always talk about

in the neighborhood.

The Norfolk House,
which is now an elderly home

up the street,
the only people that can

play up there are good folks.

Bill, Sam, and Satch started
the first basketball leagues

that we had here
for young people.

Now, Bill didn't come
all the time,

'cause he knew that Satch
would be here every day.

Slade's.

Now, that's a name in Boston
that should last forever,

the real Slade's.

I haven't been in here
in 30, 40 years.

In Boston, the Black-owned
businesses were in Roxbury.

Slade's was really big
in Roxbury.

Bill Russell purchased
the Slade's in about mid-'60s.

He spent a fair amount
of time in here.

My dad worked quietly,
right?

And so he didn't need
the glory.

There was a sit-in
on Boston Common,

and every day, food arrived
from Bill Russell's Slade's.

So he catered the revolution.

During
the basketball season,

beer was the beverage.

If you drank anything really
heavy during the playoffs,

you had to put up
with all the patrons

or many of the patrons saying,

hey, you're supposed to be
an athlete.

You shouldn't be drinking
all that stuff.

During the 1965 season,
Wilt Chamberlain's back

in his hometown
of Philadelphia.

He was traded from
the San Francisco Warriors

to the Philadelphia 76ers.

When Chamberlain joined
the team,

the staple on
a Sunday afternoon game

would have been
watching Russell

face off against Chamberlain
in the post.

Ladies and gentlemen,
back again at Boston Garden.

Center jump.

Chamberlain controls the tap.

It seemed to me
every Sunday...

Passing to Chamberlain.

Had to play against him
on television.

But I was so glad when
they have somebody else on.

When you look
at the rivalry,

it remains and will always be

the greatest individual
natural rivalry

in the history of the NBA.

Bird and Magic, for example,

they played against
each other 37 times total.

Wilt and Russell played
143 times against each other.

I mean, that's a rivalry.

Chamberlain felt frustrated
that he kept falling short

in series after series

and playoff after playoff
to the Celtics.

For Wilt, the basket has
always been easy to reach,

but the NBA championship
has not.

You get these reputations
about things that, you know,

really are not of your fault,

but that's just
the way it was.

I guess in America, you know,

being second
just doesn't count.

It's the weirdest thing

where one of
the greatest players,

maybe the greatest force
in basketball history,

is perceived as a loser.

The fact that Bill Russell
could win these MVPs

when Wilt was so
statistically dominant

tells you the respect
that people had for Russell,

how he went about it,
what he did.

Chamberlain in the pivot.

What his effect
on games was.

Russell with the rebound.

Had effect on other
players and teams.

It was always something Wilt
had to prove to the world.

It was to show the world
I'm more than just a big freak,

you know, dunking a ball.

And Russell was never trying
to prove anything to anybody.

He knows what he can do.

He knows what he can't do,
and that's that.

Here come
the world champions,

the Boston Celtics.

The challengers, naturally,
are young and hungry.

We were in trouble,
because Philadelphia is

the only team
that could beat us.

They gave them
a hell of a battle.

It was a seven-game series.

April 15, 1965.

It's a game
I will never forget.

Chamberlain goes underneath
and he got fouled by KC Jones.

We were going
for the seventh game.

And Chamberlain swings
at an imaginary object.

And we never lost
a seventh game.

I remember the excitement.

It was deafening.

13,000 people were
just howling.

Sam Baker throws the ball,
takes again.

And he has the ball
knocked loose.

He picks it back up.

He comes around to the left.

And the 24 second clock
went off

and there are 8 seconds left
to go in the ball game.

The Celtics lead by 3.

Chamberlain.

Chamberlain turns
and stuffs the ball.

There are 5 seconds left.

Now Russell is--

he loses the ball
off the support.

And the ball goes
to Philadelphia

with 5 seconds left.

Boston only has
a 1-point lead.

Boston Garden being
an old place to play,

we just had these guide wires

that would hold up
the end of the basket.

I did not trust anyone
to throw that pass in but me,

because I always felt
that I was the best passer.

And so I'm looking.

And I got the ball
over my head

and the guy standing
in front of me.

So I go up and I pass it in
and I hit the wire.

110 to 109.

Now the tension
is really there.

I go to the huddle.

I say, you guys got
to do something.

You got to take care
of me now.

We were normally thinking
that we were in control.

We could do this.
And that was not the case.

And I remember Red saying,
what are we going to do?

In his fashion.

What are we going to do?

The Celtics,
of course, cannot foul.

They have to play
as tight a defense

as they possibly can
in these final 5 seconds.

I said to myself,
he has 5 seconds

to throw the ball inbounds.

And when the official
handed him the ball,

I went 1,001, 1,002,

1,003,

and the ball still hasn't
left his hands.

So I take a peek,
a little bigger peek,

and on 1,005,
I see the ball coming.

Putting the ball
in a play.

He gets it out.

And Havlicek steals it.

Oh, there he goes.

Havlicek stole the ball.

It's all over.

It's all over!

Johnny Havlicek is being
mobbed by the fans.

It's all over.

Johnny Havlicek stole
the ball!

Oh, boy.

What a play by Havlicek
at the end of this ball game.

I tell Havlicek, you know,
I made you famous.

I said, that's something
for the ages, you know.

Havlicek stole the ball.
Havlicek stole the ball.

I said, if I hadn't messed up,
nobody would have heard of you.

The number one
local radio morning show.

So they had the tape,
and he kept playing it

over and over
and perpetuated it immediately.

It immortalized him.

Johnny Havlicek stole
the ball!

I can be walking down
the street and someone will go,

Havlicek stole the ball!

They'll recognize me
and say something.

It's just stuck
with people because

of the way Johnny Most
just flipped out

over that interception.

John Havlicek being
hoisted along.

Havlicek saved this ball game.

I'm here to tell you
that the Celtics

were the luckiest team
I ever saw,

and not just against us.

They always kept themselves
in position

to take advantage of any luck
that came their way.

But luck did come their way.

And of course, they did win

the championship that year

by beating the Lakers.

With its record
seventh title in a row.

No other major
professional sports team

has held a championship
through seven

consecutive seasons.

But it was
the "Havlicek stole the ball"

that people always remember.

John Havlicek,
he was amazing in that way.

He was a neat freak.

He hung his executive socks

over a hanger
in the locker room,

and he arranged
the cologne bottles and stuff

and in ascending height order.

And his locker room
looked like the general

was coming for inspection.

You wrote a whole piece
about the Garden

for "Sports Illustrated."

Yeah.

There were all
the little things

that were around the Garden,
the parquet floor,

how the guy had saved
the wood from World War II,

and da, da, da.

In the late 1940s,
wood at that time

was very scarce because
World War II was ending.

Parquet means scraps of wood
meshed together.

And that stayed that way

pretty much up
to around the 1990s.

It got worn out
over several years.

So you just take out a panel,
put another one in.

That was it.
It's like a spare part.

It's like having an oil change

or something like that
in your car.

As time went on,
the mythology grew

that it had all these
dead spots,

and the Celtics knew
where they were.

I said, sure,
we know where they are.

We don't know.

But as long as they thought so

and they thought it was
a disadvantage to their team,

we let 'em believe it.

So there are no dead spots
on the floor?

Oh, I didn't say that.

It was just a funky place.

And the thing was Fenway Park,

they would always talk
in revered, hushed tones,

whereas the Garden,

they always talked about
what a dump it was.

The Boston Garden,
that court was trash.

I'm looking at, like,
bolts jumping up.

So I'm sitting watching it.

You know, you can see
the little things

in the rivets, though.

I mean, the place is a dump.

No air conditioning.

Usually kind of dirty, smelly.

There were a few rats.

And of course, it always
smelled of elephants.

Because in February
every year,

the circus would come in.

And you never got the smell
of elephants out of there.

In the locker room,

you didn't even have
a locker then.

You had a nail, you know,
to hang their stuff on.

It was like covering a high
school team or something

where you would go
to the locker room

and you'd be the only person.

I mean, and they were all
taking showers and coming out,

and they're talking about
whatever they're talking about.

You put that opposed to what
it is now, it's ludicrous.

In the '60s,
the access was great.

You would call
the Celtics' office.

You had a one in four shot
of getting Red on the phone.

And if you wanted to buy
a season ticket,

he would take you up
to whatever seat

that he was trying to sell you
and he'd say,

"Here, it's a great view.
You can see this."

It was pretty much like
a mom and pop operation.

A friend of mine said to me,

you're going to Boston
to see your dad?

And I said oh, no, I go
to Boston, I see Red Auerbach.

I go to Washington,
I see my dad.

We all have these Celtic
charms my dad got for us.

And Randy and I
never take them off.

Mine's all worn out.

I take it to the jeweler.

Can't you solder it on me,
you know?

In the winter,
he never made my birthday.

Wasn't home.

I told him that he cared
more about the Celtics

than he did about us.

And I felt awful,

because I never
should have said that.

And he didn't.

You know?

He loved what he was doing,
but he was tired.

He told them at
the beginning of the year,

this is my last year coaching.

This is your last shot at Red.

And now for
the World Championships,

the Lakers
and the Boston Celtics.

The Lakers are picked
by many experts

as the next professional
basketball power.

Jerry West hits and they
have six quick points.

I didn't pay any attention
to Red Auerbach.

I didn't care who was coaching.

I did not.

You go out there and compete
and try to win a game.

Sam Jones taking
a long set shot.

Wowee.

They all want Red
to light up the cigar.

45 seconds remaining.

Red had an ego.

And see him sitting there
with that big cigar,

you know, like I'm looking
over my domain here,

because we're going to kick
your fannies tonight.

When he lights up
that cigar, it'll be

the culmination
of 20 years of the most

unbelievable coaching job in
the history of pro basketball.

Bill Russell goes in.

He dunks it.

That did it.

95-85.

Red Auerbach
a deliriously happy man.

There you see Red Auerbach as

he's lighting up his cigar

with Governor John Volpe
standing by.

Would light up
that victory cigar

before the game was over.

It was just the signal to all
of us, you know, we can relax.

You know, it's over.

It would never occur to me
that in other cities,

he could be hated even,
you know, by intense fans

who don't like that gloating
with the cigar thing.

KC Jones.

KC holding the ball.

That's it.

The game is over.

And John Havlicek is
running for his life.

Eighth straight
world championship

certainly is
an unbelievable feat.

Eight in a row is
incredible.

Eight straight and nine
out of the last 10.

Absolutely
and totally unprecedented.

This will never
happen again.

The 1959 champion.

The home crowd goes wild.

An unprecedented
championship.

People say
oh, well, the competition.

No, no, no.

The competition is
the competition

in today's world
and yesterday's world

and tomorrow's world.

It's one of the most dominant
moments in sports history.

A remarkable accomplishment.

And that speaks to Russell,
to the Jones boys.

It speaks to Red Auerbach.

Greatest thing I ever heard,

here comes the world champion
Boston Celtics.

That "world champions"
meant something.

Red Auerbach
put that into us.

The greatest team to ever walk
on the floor in the NBA.

And that was
the Boston Celtics.

He went out a winner.

Is that--oh, that's to me.

I think it's to me.

It's either to me or my sister.

No, it's to me, to Nancy.

When he stopped coaching,
he was home somewhat more,

but he was still loyal
to the Celtics

and he became general manager.

He said to me,
one day we were talking,

he says, I'm not going
to hire a coach that

you don't get
100% approval of.

Everybody seems to know
who the next coach

of the Celtics is going to be.

It all boils down
to a couple of things.

He wants to do it,
he knows he can do it,

we went over all the details
of this thing,

and he proves that coaching
the Celtics next year,

they could also
win a championship.

Now here he is,
the new coach of the Celtics.

The best to you.

Thank you.

It's practically impossible
to follow Red as a coach.

You know, he's got
a pretty good record.

If Red hadn't assured me
more than once

that he really, sincerely
wanted me to take the job,

I wouldn't consider it.

Yes.

Any other questions?

Many Boston sports reporters
and Boston fans

were resentful
of Bill Russell.

Is he biting off more
than he can chew?

Does he have
the capacity to do this?

Coaching and playing,

it must be
a difficult job for you.

The debates over Russell
as coach, in a lot of ways,

mirrored the debates over
Russell as a public figure.

Came out of friendship
to Muhammad Ali.

You've always felt very
strongly about, as you call it,

human rights,
and have expressed

yourself in many ways.

Now, are you going
to be inclined

to be less concerned with this,

or are you going to be asked
in any way by management

to be less expressive?

Don, I'm the same guy
that I was last year.

I am what I am.

I'm the same person.

And so I have a different job,
a bigger job.

I'm still the same person.

A lot of guys were
playing basketball

for a living, for money,
for a lot of reasons.

Russell had a cause.

And as Russell had said,

basketball is a stage

on which I can let people
know how I feel.

In 1966, Bill Russell began

putting himself in alliance
with the larger

Black community in Boston.

We're in a church
here tonight

because we couldn't be
in a school.

He becomes increasingly
active in this struggle

against racism shaping policy.

We're being assaulted
by certain members

of the city government that
we're not expected to react.

And lately we've
been hearing a lot

about the new Boston,

government center,
bank buildings.

But while all this new Boston
is being developed,

Roxbury is one
of 10 poorest communities

in the United States.

There's a fire here
in Roxbury,

and nobody's listening.

There's nobody listening.

What the people don't realize
is that a fire

that consumes Roxbury
consumes Boston.

Thank you very much.

My sister
from another mister.

Hello. Hello.

I want people to know
what our fathers did.

Yeah.

I want people to be
inspired by people

who took risks,
who were misunderstood.

I can't imagine one
without the other.

And I don't think either would
have been nearly as successful.

Competition, you know,
forced them

into innovating
and taking these risks.

When you think of a victory
cigar being lit for each win,

it's a lot, but think of
all the cigars in between.

My great grandfather--
this is my dad's grandfather,

my great grandfather--

at a game, it was
the first time in his life

that someone called him
Mr. Russell.

Really?

And he went
into the locker room

and saw the water running off
of a white guy's back

to a Black guy's back,
and it just blew his mind.

Your dad and my dad created
a world where we could thrive.

Let's meet the moment.

Embrace it. Embrace it.

I miss my dad, but this
makes me miss him less.

Go, go, go, go, go!

Go, go, go!

I love how loud it is here!

I feel very lucky.

People come up to you
and so there are

all these wonderful stories.

I'm sitting tall here
in Boston Garden.

They had Cousy.

They had Auerbach before him.

But they didn't have
the world championship

until they got Bill Russell,
and now he's the player coach.

For us fans,
we were worried at the idea

that Red Auerbach wasn't
going to coach anymore.

Bill Russell, player coach,

at that level,
we'd never seen it.

I just thought it's impossible.

It's crazy to think
there could be

a player coach in the NBA.

But I think in Russell's case,

Red was still around,
lurking in the shadows,

there to help if needed.

How many plays
do the Celtics have?

Was it seven?

Six plays.

That never changed?

Never changed.

One of the attributes
that made Red

such a great coach was

making the execution
of these plays

tantamount to how to do it.

I had watched
all his coaching,

and I wanted to change things
as little as possible.

Last year, the 76ers were
the almost team of the NBA.

But the Celts ended
the great dream

in the Eastern Division
playoffs.

The past cries out.

Beat Boston.

Philly in '67 was
in many ways

a perfectly balanced squad.

The famous
Russell-Chamberlain duel

reaches a settlement.

And that year, Wilt had
so much talent around him,

and they just
wiped people out.

Wilt goes wild.

The 76ers take the lead.

Blocked by Chamberlain.

Greer scoring and scoring.

Driving, shooting.

We were so powerful,
it was expected for us to win.

Russell was playing
48 minutes a game.

He didn't have much time
for strategy,

'cause he was trying to catch
his breath in this Tong War

with Wilt Chamberlain.

Tremendous tension here.

Jackson lost it.

Sam Jones.

Little fight going on there.

A capacity crowd
of over 14,000

is here hoping for the kill.

Russell got the last laugh
until that year.

Game five in 1967,
Wilt, he had 29 points,

36 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Boston has been the champion

of the National Basketball
Association since 1958.

Bill Russell has been the hub
of this successful team.

His first year as a coach,
and now he stands

one minute away
from his team being

ousted from the playoffs.

Five, four, three,
two, one!

The Sixers, who were
a great, great team.

And it all came together
that year.

It's kind of
a strange feeling.

You felt like
you did something,

but you felt like also, well,
you know, it's way overdue.

Now I can walk in peace.

And not saying, well, we're not
going to beat those Celtics.

When the Celtics lost
to the 76ers,

that was finally
some vindication

for Russell's doubters.

And this may be the end
of an era, a Boston era.

You don't feel that
in any way

that you would have had
a better year as a player

last year if you didn't
have the worries

of being a first year coach?

Well, I had a better year
than I did the year before

my first year as coach.

Uh, it's hard to say.

No one will ever know.

That really was
something that stuck

in the back of Russell's mind.

I am going to win
a championship.

Even though
we lost my first year,

we're going to get this done.

Philadelphia
and Boston are set

for the Eastern Division
final.

NBC interrupts its
regular program scheduled.

The Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King,
Jr. was killed

tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King's death,

that was...

it was an empty moment.

Racial violence erupted
in many American cities.

Everybody,
I think, was upset.

I think everybody
on every team,

regardless of race or religion
or whatever, felt a loss.

And I felt somehow responsible.

You have to understand what
that meant to Bill Russell.

He was not just
a follower of Dr. King,

he was talking
with him constantly

about how he could make
a difference

in his own activism.

So you're talking about

a very, very close
relationship.

He did not want to play.

And Russell's teammates
felt the same way.

I was angry,
and the players were angry.

Our first inclination was

the game didn't
seem important.

We got word that
the commissioner had spoken

with the Mayor of Boston
and Philadelphia

and thought that
we should play the game.

The league itself said,
listen,

there's riots all over America
right now.

We feel like if you play,

it can be a pause
for one night for everybody.

It can be a pause.

We really think
it'll make a difference.

There's approximately 15,000
people in this building.

Now, do we want
to send them all out

of the building
with this stuff going on,

or do you want
to play the game?

And so we decided,
both teams decided,

we would play the game.

My mother's philosophy was,
if you're Black or Negro

or whatever it is
in this country,

you can't allow
all of the things

that can happen
to affect what you're

trying to do with your life.

You can give in,
maybe get angry and get upset.

Is it going to solve
the problem?

She always used to say,
what is the bottom line here?

It's getting stuff done.

The games were
going to be played.

I'm not saying
I didn't feel the pain

of the things happening.

I'm saying life continues.

We were undergoing all
of the pinpoint pressures

of that time.

For us as players,

basketball meant more

during the times
that we played.

Boston carries it
to a seventh and final game.

Before this game,
we had pride in big letters

on the blackboard.

We knew we would
go out and win.

Pride took over.

If I see something
that bothers me,

I'm going to say so.

There are a lot of things
that are happening

outside the arena
that were difficult,

but the time I spent
in the locker room

and on the floor with
my teammates was like heaven.

Always a big night
when the Boston Celtics

come to Los Angeles.

What a rivalry.

This is the fifth time
in seven years

that these two have faced
in the NBA Finals.

The never-say-die
Boston team

wins the world's professional
basketball crown.

At the end of 1968,
"Sports Illustrated,"

the magazine, has
the Sportsman of the Year.

The person who they pick
is Bill Russell.

And there's a beautiful
profile that he is the man

as their coach who's leading
this integrated team

while at the same time
that he can

express much of the discontent
in Black America.

This is one that
sort of flatters me,

because the emphasis is not
on just winning or losing.

It's--you know,
it reflects the man.

For my 12th birthday
in 1969,

my father took me
to a preseason game.

This player gets
in the middle of the lane.

He puts his arms out like this.

Looks like an eagle.

And he's got this goatee.

And I can see, like,
sweat dripping off of it.

I was like, wow,
that's that Bill Russell.

Wow.

You know, I'm 66 years old.

It stuck with me
my whole life,

this image of Bill Russell.

When I look at Jaylen Brown,

who's a super talented,
smart, conscious guy,

this kind of role model
of excellence,

but also intelligence
and introspection,

it may help
some young men and women

see a possibility
they did not see.

Two-time NBA
all star Jaylen Brown

made history this week.

The 26-year-old
Boston Celtics player

signed the biggest contract
in NBA history.

The world is...

Mine.

- The world is...
- Mine.

- The world is...
- Mine!

It's important
to understand context

and history in order
to get to the present moment.

Bill Russell,
he was one of those people

that don't come around
very often.

And I hold myself
to that standard.

I honestly feel like
the reason why I'm here

is to be able to be a voice

for certain conversations.

My goal is just to remind
people of the bigger

conversation of life
and that we all play a role

in the city, the community.

Through my platform,
through influential partners,

through selected leaders,
government officials,

a lot who are in this room,
and that we can come together

and attack
the wealth disparity here

that nobody wants
to talk about.

Having an impact outside
of the game of basketball

and making Boston
a better Boston,

I think that would be
a great legacy to leave,

and I just want to do my part--
no more, no less.

Everybody keeps
talking about,

the Celtics are so old now.

They're over the hill.
They can't win again.

Do you really,
deep down in your heart

feel like you can do it again?

Yes.

They went through
Philadelphia.

They went through the Knicks.

Turns out there was
more in the tank

than everybody thought
there was.

Like, they knew what to do.

This has got to be
the greatest ball club

I've ever played with,
because we've never finished

lower than second place.

And this year,
we finished fourth.

And here we are,
going for the championship.

The Celtics,
as the Lakers have found out,

they're a tough team to win
the World Championship from.

But with Chamberlain
in the Los Angeles lineup,

Los Angeles is ready to go.

Los Angeles,
because of super Jerry West,

super Elgin Baylor,
and super Wilt Chamberlain

look like the team to beat.

Till the day I die,
they were not the better team.

They were absolutely not
the better team.

The last five times

they had a chance
to be world champions,

the Celtics have
defeated them.

Jerry West.

Two in a row
for the superstar.

And there it is.

Chamberlain.

Celtics have been down before,
their backs to the wall.

Clock is moving.

5 seconds.

To Sam, his 20-foot jumper.

Yes!

So many times,
the Celtics have

played the Lakers
in the NBA Finals,

and the Celtics have
prevailed.

So many times,
Bill Russell has faced off

against Wilt Chamberlain

and Russell's team
has prevailed.

Now we get to game seven.

He's at the fabulous Forum.

The Los Angeles Lakers
just one victory away

from their first
World Championship.

The whole idea was
that this was going to be

the coronation of the Lakers.

This was their time
and their moment,

and that's how
everybody felt about it.

I'm going to ask you
a very difficult question,

but I can't help but wonder,
how do you feel

about going into another
seventh game,

this time on
somebody else's floor?

We've done it before.

I was unbelievably confident
that they could not beat us.

And in the event of a Laker
victory here at the Forum,

many, many balloons hang
in the rafters.

When I saw
all these balloons,

I was absolutely furious.

Why are you putting
the cart before the horse?

It was sickening.

Jack Kent Cooke was
the owner of the Lakers.

He put out a sheet
in all the seats.

When the Lakers win
the championship,

the USC band would play
"Happy Days Are Here Again."

The balloons in the rafters
would fall down.

Well, I took this
back to Russell.

I said, the Lakers
cannot beat us.

It's not--it's not something
that can happen.

But it's going to be fun
to watch them

get those balloons out
one at a time.

Sam Jones, 35 years old,
playing like a 25-year-old,

and Russell.

It was quite a game.

The Celtics took a big lead,

and then the Lakers
were coming back.

The Lakers have come back
within 1 point.

And of course,
it was quite a finish.

A minute 33 to go.

Boston by a single point.

Now it's Havlicek.

Erickson.

Erickson taps the ball
to Nelson.

I'm running across the key,
and it came right to me, right?

I had, like, two seconds
to catch and shoot it,

so I just got it up
as quick as I could.

As the years have gone by,

the ball has gone
higher and higher.

Now it's gone, like,
into outer space.

And then straight through.

Don Nelson.

Well, I shot it terrible.

It was just the luckiest shot
I ever made.

There was nothing--
there wasn't any skill to it.

And time has run out,

and the Boston Celtics have
done it again.

Another jewel in that crown.

A thriller to the end
as the miraculous

Boston Celtics become the--

Their 11th
world championship.

You were so close to doing
all those balloons up there.

They'll leave them.

Sam, what a way to go out.

Balloons hang
in the rafters,

but they will not be released.

The balloons stayed up
on the ceiling,

and the Southern Cal band
went back to their dorms

to study for their
biology finals.

A disappointed
Wilt Chamberlain

brought here
by Jack Kent Cooke.

It turned out to be
the worst party

that you could possibly have.

The Lakers have lost
all six.

It seemed like
there was a spell

that was cast over the Lakers
versus the Celtics.

Really, all my life
has haunted me.

It's just a kid looking
in a candy store.

Unless you break that glass,
he can't have the candy.

Congratulations.

You brought us
all the way,

and we had to scratch
for our lives.

I'm here with Bill Russell.

Bill, this must have been
a great win for you.

Jack...

One more time.

One more time.

I know it's hard to say
what's in your mind

right now, Bill.

And it must have been
a great win.

Boy, this is such a great
bunch of guys, you know?

And it's been--
it's just been so fabulous

the way they played for me.

And it sounds all corny,
you know,

to start talking like that.

But they're such
a great bunch of guys.

I just can't say enough
about the guys.

In the Celtics, that was
a unique group of men.

And that things happening
outside of that arena,

a lot of it was offensive.

The atmosphere was not what
anybody wanted it to be.

But this group of guys were
confident in who they were,

and they didn't need
to diminish anyone else

in order to be what they were.

The Celtics,
greatest sports dynasty

in the history
of professional athletics.

This word dynasty,
where did it start in sports?

It might have started with
the Green Bay Packers,

with the New York Yankees,
maybe the Montreal Canadiens.

They can't equal the Celtics.

They never pulled off
11 titles in 13 years.

That leaves the Celtics
as the gold standard

for sports dynasties.

Celtics win.

We can't compare anything
to the '50s and '60s Celtics,

as they kept repeating
and repeating

and repeating and reloading.

I was a child in
Massachusetts, born in '53.

So when I go to kindergarten,
they're the world champs,

and I was in high school
before they weren't.

I mean, it was just like...

We just thought it was part
of the--winter comes,

and then there's the marathon
and the forsythia bloom,

and then the Celtics win
the championship,

and then we go on
to the summer.

Congratulations.

We were so spoiled.

They were annual champions,

and we didn't know
anything else.

So there's definitely
happiness

in Boston tonight.

They can say, well,
so-and-so is a better player

or this guy is
a better player.

He's the greatest player ever
or anything.

And I don't concern myself
with that.

I'll just say
I got 11 championships.

And that's done.

We beat the Lakers
in Los Angeles.

The next day, a reporter
from one of the Boston papers

walked into Red's office
and asked him,

are you satisfied
with the coaching

you had this year?

You win the championship,

and the guy asked
this question.

Are you satisfied
with the coaching you had?

And Red says,
what are you talking about?

We just won a championship
two days ago.

And so then I realized that,
first of all,

there are no final victories.

I knew that was my last game,
and I was the only one

that knew
that was my last game.

People found out
a couple months later

picking up
"Sports Illustrated."

There was a championship
parade in Boston,

and Russell didn't go.

He was gone.

I don't know.

Once Russell was gone,

you knew trouble had arrived.