RISING ABOVE THE RIM Bill Russell and the Reinvention of Basketball Michael Hamel Michael Hamel Acotes Hill Press RISING ABOVE THE RIM Bill Russell and the Reinvention of Basketball Copyright ©2010byMichael Hamel All rights reserved, includingtheright ofreproduction inwholeorinpart inanyform. This workis also licensedunderaCreativeCommons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0United States License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ Thedistributionofthis bookviathe Internet orviaanyother means without thepermissionoftheauthoris prohibited.Your support oftheauthor’s rights is appreciated. Moreinformationis availableat: http://risingabovetherim.blogspot.com CoverPhoto: Bill Russell watchingconstructionofthenewUSF Memorial Gym, August 1957; courtesyofSan FranciscoHistory Center,SanFranciscoPublic Library(Romaine-Skelton photograph). To Mom and Dad Contents Introduction: AWayOf Life 9 1 AWholeNewWorld 17 2 UnstoppableForce 34 3 Sneakers andSnapshots 58 4 Greatest DefensiveBigManintheGame 81 5 Celtics and Lakers 107 6 NewFrontiers 126 7 Kaleidoscope 145 8 Faded Hopes 175 9 TransitionGame 199 10 HustleandGuts 220 11 Soul Force 244 12 Pride 263 Epilogue: ANew Ballgame 288 Appendix 294 Acknowledgements 322 Notes 323 Bibliography 386