On This Day In NBA History: August 25 - Bill Russell Becomes Highest Paid Player
This year, we lost a legend not only in the basketball world, but in our world in general.
Bill Russell was an icon across our country due to his basketball career and his involvement in civil rights activism during the 1960’s, specifically during the 1963 March on Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
What Russell achieved in his career playing basketball was simply remarkable and on this day in 1965, Bill Russell became the NBA’s highest paid player with a contract worth $100,001.
The reason this contract was significant, other than the fact that he became the league’s highest paid player, was due to the fact that he made sure he got $1 more than his arch-rival Wilt Chamberlain, another NBA legend in his own right.
After Chamberlain received a $100,000 contract from the Philadelphia 76ers, Russell demanded that he get paid more than that of his rival and he even threatened the Boston Celtics at the time with retirement!
Increasing their offer from $75,000 to $100,001 in total, Bill Russell got his wish from the Celtics and really made his point to remain above Wilt Chamberlain clear.
In his career, Russell made the All-Star Game twelve out of the thirteen years he played and he won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, the most any professional athlete has ever won. Russell was also named MVP of the league five different times, he led the league in rebounds four different seasons and he was named an All-NBA performer eleven different times.
Passing away in July this year, the NBA has announced that Bill Russell’s iconic No. 6 jersey will be retired league-wide and not player, other than those who currently wear No. 6, will ever wear this number again in league history.
A true legend at life on- and off-the-court, Bill Russell may be gone, but his stories will live on for generations to come. This is just one of many iconic stories outlining Russell’s career.
