When we are trying to describe Bill Russell, what picture are we painting? 当我们追忆比尔•拉塞尔，我们是在描述一个怎样的人？ The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers share the NBA record of winning 17 titles in total. Russell contributed 11 of them to the Celtics, including doing so for eight straight seasons.在NBA75年历史当中，波士顿凯尔特人一共夺得过17次总冠军，和洛杉矶湖人一道并列第一。而这其中，拉塞尔11次率队登顶，包括一波八连冠和职业生涯最后的两连冠。
You understand how dominant Russell was when you saw the names of those who lost to him: Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and, of course, Wilt Chamberlain.当你一个一个读出那些曾败在拉塞尔手下的巨星的名字，你才会真正意识到他的统治力有多么恐怖：埃尔金•贝勒、杰里•韦斯特，以及，威尔特•张伯伦。 Unlike most super stars, Russell didn’t dominate the floor by himself, at least not on the offensive end. However, he was one of the greatest defensive players in NBA history and the Celtics kept winning under his leadership.和大多数超级巨星不同，拉塞尔并不依靠个人进攻统治比赛。他率队取胜的方式是防守，而在这方面能与他比肩的人屈指可数。
“There are two types of superstars. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. But there’s another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that’s the type Russell was,” Don Nelson said of Russell.“千胜教头”老尼尔森在评价拉塞尔时曾说：“超级巨星可以分为两种，一种自己在场上风光无限却让队友吃瘪；而另一种则能不断激发身边球员贡献超出自身水平的表现。拉塞尔就属于第二种。” However, Russell was more than a basketball player. When he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2011, Obama recalled that Russell “stood up for the rights and dignity of all men. He marched with [Martin Luther] King [Jr.]. He stood by [Muhammad] Ali.”篮球只是拉塞尔人生的一部分。在那个种族主义横行的年代，他不断参加各种社会运动。2011年，时任美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马授予拉塞尔“总统自由勋章”时，曾盛赞这位传奇“为了所有人权利和尊严挺身而出。他参加了马丁•路德•金组织的游行运动，并支持拳王穆罕默德•阿里反对越南战争。”