The Larry Siegfried Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Tuesday, May 16th,
2006
The
incomparable Bill Russell was the heart-and-soul of the Celtic Dynasty. What
was it like to have him as a teammate, and do you have a fond story that you
would like to share?
We
could go on for days about Bill Russell. One time, on ESPN, someone asked me
about Lucas as a center and Russell as a center. I said that Jerry Lucas was a
great, great college center. And then they asked me about Bill Russell. I
said, ‘Now wait a minute – you’re talking about light and dark here, buddy.’
Bill Russell was, in my opinion, the greatest team player who ever lived. I’m
going to tell you why; because the team game is about championships, and Bill
Russell has the most championships. Some people will point to Wilt Chamberlain
as the best center ever. But who has the most championships? Russell. Eleven
championships in thirteen years, and nobody in the NBA will ever surpass that.
You’ve got free agency, you’ve got salary caps, you’ve got all of these things
to contend with today. People talk about Michael Jordan as the best basketball
player ever, but again, the bottom line is championships. Bill Russell has the
most championships of any team player. And he was the focal point of everything
the Boston Celtics did as a team – he was the defensive stopper, he was the
trigger man for the fast break, he was the one who made the Celtics so tough
underneath the basket. When he was right and when he was healthy, you could not
beat him. You could book that. The only time the Celtics lost an NBA Finals
during Russell’s career was in ’58, his second season in the league. The
Celtics were up on the Hawks early in that series, but then Russell sprained his
ankle and St. Louis went on to win the championship. That was the only time.
Otherwise, you simply couldn’t beat him. You’re not going to beat his team. It
ain’t going to happen. The rest of the league found that out pretty quick, and
it was something that you could count on for the better part of thirteen years.
The beautiful thing about Bill Russell was that he was a defensive player. He didn’t need a ton of shots to be happy, like some of these guys you see today. He was a team player. That’s what made it exciting. The whole thing about the Boston situation was the philosophy of team. Bill Russell epitomized that. I’m a firm believer that, in order to win, two things need to happen – you have to play defense and you have to move the ball. In Boston, the ball always moved because the focal point was defense. It was never offense. And the offense a derivative of the defense. If you wanted to watch the game from the bench, you didn’t play defense. And if you played defense, you were going to score because defense generated ball movement. It was a very unselfish situation. Today, the situation is often reversed. If a guy is shooting well, then he’ll play defense. And if he’s not shooting well, he won’t play any defense at all. It was just the opposite in Boston.
You want a story? Let’s talk about Russell’s last championship. I’ll never forget when Russ told me that the spark wasn’t there anymore – I was sitting in a whirlpool in LA prior to Game 7 in the 1969 NBA Finals, and he said that this was it, that he just didn’t think he could get up for the big games anymore. Deep down he knew that he had one more in him, and he did – we won Game 7 and won the championship. And then he walked away. I’ve always admired that. He had the courage to say, ‘It’s time to get out.’ He could have probably hung around and did his thing, maybe played a few more years, but that wasn’t what Bill Russell was all about. He had to win. And I repeat; when he was healthy, and when he was right, you could not beat him. Never. I’ve seen him on nights when he was unstoppable. You and I could talk for days about Bill Russell. I just feel very fortunate to have played on the same team. I wrote him a letter one time, and I thanked him for allowing me to be a part of his team. You understand what I’m saying? He allowed me to be a part of that. And it wasn’t like being there when Jordan scored 50 or 60 points, or Kobe going off for 80 – that’s not what I’m talking about. It was Russell’s show, but he didn’t have to have the ball to dominate and influence the outcome of the game. He was the ultimate team player – he wanted everyone else involved at all times, and that’s how he took over games. He took them over by involving his teammates more and more in the flow of the game. Some nights he’d get thirty, forty rebounds – guys today get eight, ten rebounds and they think they’ve done something special.
You want more about Russell? There was a time when we were playing Philadelphia, and the Sixers had the ball with a few seconds left. Russ called timeout – he was the player/coach at that time – and he said, ‘If everybody boxes out their man, I’ll get the ball.’ And that was it. End of conversation. We did our jobs, Russ got the ball, and we went down the court and scored and won the game. Now, if you want to get raked over the coals in that situation, you don’t do your job. You let your man get by you and score. Russ expected you to take care of your assignment, and if you did that, then he was going to take care of the rest.
Another time, we were playing Los Angeles in the NBA Finals. Somebody had stolen the ball at half court and went the other way to lay it in. Russell was at the foul line, and he took off, and he raced down the floor. And when that kid – I can’t remember who it was – laid the ball up on the board, Russell came from nowhere to block the shot. The next day, the picture in the paper showed Russ parallel to the floor, arms extended, as he flicked the ball off the board before it ever touched the glass. It was the single most amazing play I’ve ever seen in my life.
Russell’s imprint was everywhere with that team. There were nights in the Boston Garden, when Red would press with a small lineup For example, he might put me, KC, Havlicek, Sanders and Russell out there, and order us to press on every possession. There were nights when teams literally couldn’t get the ball past half court. I was a part of that – you can’t imagine the pressure. Put yourself on the opposing team; we steal the ball, make the shot, and you have to bring the ball up the court. And we’re right there in your face. Then, if you’re somehow able to beat us, you know the chances are pretty good that you’re going to get your shot blocked. The next time you don’t take it inside because you’re afraid you’ll get your shot blocked by Russell. So you sag back to get a little breathing room, and then we apply even more pressure. And that’s the way we won. And all of that pressure was possible because of Russell.
Red always used to say that whenever we had offensive lapses we had a defensive problem. We weren’t focusing on defense. We were too preoccupied with offense. So how did he rectify that problem? He’d call timeout and go to full court pressure, which would eliminate the offensive focus entirely. Trust me, you can’t press like that and focus on your offensive game. It was come as a result of the defensive pressure – points off of turnovers, quick baskets, whatever. And if you weren’t out there pressing, then you were coming out of the game. It was that simple. It was a great weapon for us. And all of that pressure was magnified tenfold with Russell on the floor. He was that good. There will never be another Bill Russell.