Regardless of your age, and even if you’re not a basketball fan, you should know the name Bill Russell.
He led the Boston Celtics to eleven NBA championships — he had more rings than fingers! — a record no one else has bested in a team sport. The two-part Netflix documentary, “Bill Russell: Legend,” lays out the story of his career, playing with other NBA greats like Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, and KC Jones, and his relationship with coach Red Auerbach.
But the documentary isn’t just a couple of hours of highlights. It also tells the story of Russell’s struggles against racism, not just in the American south, but in Reading, Massachusetts, the Boston suburb where residents admired what he did on the parquet floor enough to honor Russell with a dinner, but didn’t want him and his family living on their block. And there’s footage of Russell’s role as an outspoken advocate for years in the civil rights movement.
Director Sam Pollard — who I spoke with in 2017 about his Sammy Davis Jr. doc “I’ve Gotta Be Me” — got Bill’s daughter Karen and his widow Jeanine to open up about his life. He also convinced some big basketball names to appear on camera, including Bill Walton, Jalen Rose, Walt Frazier, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Paul, Bill Bradley, Larry Bird, Earl Monroe, John Havlicek, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Steph Curry. Pollard includes excerpts from Russell’s memoirs, read by Jeffrey Wright, too.
One of the running themes reveals much about Russell’s relationship with Wilt Chamberlain, who was a constant rival on the court, but a close friend outside the arenas. In fact, the doc reveals that Bill would often go to Wilt’s home and have dinner with him the night before their teams would play each other, to the utter shock of their teammates. But that closeness didn’t affect their battles under the basket for rebounds and blocked shots.
Over two episodes lasting three-and-a-quarter hours, the documentary offers a vivid look at a man for whom the word “legend” hardly seems enough. I give “Bill Russell: Legend” a 10 out of 10.