Bill Russell didn't know his Celtics won eight titles until 20 years later

Bill Russell didn’t know his Celtics won eight titles until 20 years later

Feb 16, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; NBA legend Bill Russell is presented with a birthday cake in honor of his 80th birthday by Julius Erving during the 2014 NBA All-Star Game Legends Brunch at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Bill Russell is one of the greatest players in NBA history. In the 1950s and 60s, he won 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, including eight in a row from 1958 to 1966. He also won 5 MVP awards, went to 12 All-Star games, had his number retired by the Celtics and was elected into the Hall of Fame. He’s also one of only two players to ever grab 50 rebounds in a game–the other being Wilt Chamberlain, of course–and is second all-time in league history in rebounds. I could go on for thousands of words about Russell’s greatness, but that’s enough for now.

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Russell is also one of the most thoughtful men to have ever played the game, and before Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, he penned a column for NBA.com. The strangest bit of information from his piece is that he claims to not have known that his Celtics won eight titles in a row.

From NBA.com

"It might seem strange but I did not know our Celtic teams won eight championships in a row until about 20 years ago when I read about it in a game program. Our focus was always on that particular season, always one year at a time. The year we played had nothing to do with the previous year or the next year. That’s just the way it was.Now, I don’t know if Miami is thinking about winning three in a row. In the NBA Finals, there’s pressure and you always see how players react to the pressure. For some guys, it makes them a step slower while for other guys, it makes them a step faster. I like to watch to see how teams react to the pressure because for the really great players, there isn’t any pressure, you just go out and play."

I get his point about just going out there and playing, but I have to be honest, I find it incredibly difficult to not realize you won eight championships in a row. I mean, how could you not know that?

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