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King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution
Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. In King of the Court , Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell’s leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game’s texture. His teams provided models of racial integration in the 1950s and 1960s, and, in 1966, he became the first black coach of any major professional team sport. Yet, like no athlete before him, Russell challenged the politics of sport. Instead of displaying appreciative deference, he decried racist institutions, embraced his African roots, and challenged the nonviolent tenets of the civil rights movement. This beautifully written book—sophisticated, nuanced, and insightful—reveals a singular individual who expressed the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. while echoing the warnings of Malcolm X.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 23, 2019
Such a fascinating subject matter deserves a more entertaining biography. Goudsouzin recounts the major events of Russell's life, and he does so competently, but he lacks the narrative gifts that make other biographies -- e.g., Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made and When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi -- read like novels. Bill Russell is a riveting figure, and I guess I wish Goudsouzin would have dug deeper to explain his inner workings.
August 9, 2018
Excellent biography of the greatest basketball player of all time. Bill Russell was also the greatest winner of all time. Great book.
April 24, 2010
Well written book, overview of Russel's career with a little bit of childhood and a good chunk of post-career stuff). Writer does a great job of attributing source material, but as a result, it feels a bit like a synthesis of materials already out there. Good read though if you want to get a perspective of a complex, contradictory man. It's striking how prevalent racism was a mere 50 years ago. (separate hotels/restaurants, roster limits for blacks, etc.). Crazy
September 27, 2019
A well balanced consideration of Russell the player and the specificity of what made him so successful on the court, but also of Russell the man - his search for identity in a racist country. This is certainly not hagiography, his post playing failures are not apologised for. What I most appreciated was the obviously high level of research that was done in order to contextualise the state of the game of basketball and of race relations.
August 24, 2022
While it borders on repetitive at times and can be a bit heavy-handed with the ideas it tries to get across, I found it incredibly thorough, engaging, and essential for any basketball fan - or anyone interested in pivotal historical figures, for that matter. I really enjoyed learning about what a great man he was, on and off the court.
February 6, 2019
Interesting book. Russell was one of the 50 best basketball players. Personally he was a schmuck. Yet, he could ball defense.
February 9, 2023
Exhaustively researched and detailed look at the most important sports figure of the 20th century.
September 27, 2013
In Aram Goudsouzian's King of the Court, we learn that Russell challenged racial boundaries on and off the court. Arriving in Boston in December 1956, Russell was the only black player on the Celtics and only 15 African Americans held roster spots in the NBA.
Bill Russell was not the first black player in the league, but he was the NBA's first black superstar. Russell rebounded the ball: he flew into the air, snatched the ball off the rim, and in one motion whipped an outlet pass to Bob Cousy or K.C. Jones, igniting a fast-break. Traditionally, basketball coaches taught their players never to leave their feet on defense. Russell ignored this rule. He leaped off the parquet floor and blocked shots, frustrating and intimidating shooters. Sometimes he would simply jumped and catch a player's errant shot in midair. Russell's defense stretched the possibilities of the game. He cultivated a faster and more athletic sport.
Goudsouzian puts Russell the man into his times to show how each shaped the other. Russell became a crusader for racial equality and black pride both in his on-the-court play and his off-the-court life. This is also the tale of the evolution of modern sports and how basketball went from being a small-time enterprise to an enormous cultural influence in America, thanks in large part to men like Russell.
Bill Russell was not the first black player in the league, but he was the NBA's first black superstar. Russell rebounded the ball: he flew into the air, snatched the ball off the rim, and in one motion whipped an outlet pass to Bob Cousy or K.C. Jones, igniting a fast-break. Traditionally, basketball coaches taught their players never to leave their feet on defense. Russell ignored this rule. He leaped off the parquet floor and blocked shots, frustrating and intimidating shooters. Sometimes he would simply jumped and catch a player's errant shot in midair. Russell's defense stretched the possibilities of the game. He cultivated a faster and more athletic sport.
Goudsouzian puts Russell the man into his times to show how each shaped the other. Russell became a crusader for racial equality and black pride both in his on-the-court play and his off-the-court life. This is also the tale of the evolution of modern sports and how basketball went from being a small-time enterprise to an enormous cultural influence in America, thanks in large part to men like Russell.
August 4, 2011
An excellent biography of a man who transcended sport. I did not know much about him before and picked up the book from my local library by chance as I looked for other books to read. Turns out Russell is very much the definition of an iconoclast. Not always an easy character as he tried to always stay one step beyond the reach of fans/management/the sporting press/society. I won't profess to be an expert after reading this one book - even if it is exceptional among sports bios in most every way - but for as many years as Russell exuded cool and a strong sense of himself, I could not help but wonder if he was ever truly comfortable in his own skin as he raged at the world around him. Anyway, call this one "highly recommended."
November 7, 2011
King of the Court was a great book for any basketball fans. Although it could be a bit boring or tedious at times, it could also be very exciting. The author must have researched Bill Russel and 1950's-60's basketball a great deal. He possessed so much knowledge and filled it all in the book. It is a must-read for true Bill Russell fans. It is also extremely well-written, and a truly inspiring story. I really know so much more about all the players and coaches of the time, and how Russell transcended it all. His story is so awe-inspiring that it seems almost fictional. He was an incredibly smart and talented man, who always did the unexpected and brave thing. King of the Court expresses this perfectly, and is an interesting, awesome novel.
May 1, 2023
THE BEST book on Bill Russell, better even than Russell's several memoirs - which are excellent, to be sure. Mr. Goudsouzian has given us the basketball player and the man, and what a man he is. Excellent reporting on the 50s and 60s Boston Celtics, too, and on some of the many stars who played there, notably including Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy. And of course Russ's nemesis, Wilt Chamberlain, is a powerful figure in the story. A stirring bio that humanizes the greatest winner in all of sports - two NCAA titles, an Olympic Gold Medal, and 11 championships in 13 years in Boston.
"King of the Court" is beautifully written, the research is mind boggling, and the story gives us a great human being with all his faults. A must read.
"King of the Court" is beautifully written, the research is mind boggling, and the story gives us a great human being with all his faults. A must read.
December 9, 2016
What a delight! As a lover of basketball and one who devours books on the subject, Goudsouzian's work was a very pleasant surprise. Too many basketball books skim at the surface, like a collection of sports pages. This book delves deep, not only into its incredibly compelling protagonist - Bill Russell - but also into the society and politics of the times in which Russell dominated like no other. The book helps one appreciate Russell's play and achievements, even more deeply so by setting it in the relevant history of the US at the time. A must read for any Bill Russell fan, any Celtics fan, or any general reader interested in basketball and U.S. history.
May 26, 2011
I read most anything about Bill Russell because even though he beat my Lakers so many times, he is an individual who thinks for himself and is not afraid to stir things up. He also changed the game of basketball, much for the better because after he showed how, the game got off the floor in a big hurry. Prior to his emergence, players were taught to never leave their feet EXCEPT to get a rebound, but Russell did it on nearly every play defensively. This book does not get into his personal life too much, sticking to basketball and civil rights for the most part.
April 16, 2012
There's no reason why anyone should give this less than 5 stars.Bill Russell is an icon.Well written and inspiring.
October 16, 2014
eh...........
Really didn't learn anything, and felt he kind of made up stuff. And I didn't think about basketball when I was reading the book, which is the ultimate test. I thought about work.
Really didn't learn anything, and felt he kind of made up stuff. And I didn't think about basketball when I was reading the book, which is the ultimate test. I thought about work.
August 24, 2015
Excellent book about Bill Russell and his time in the NBA.
March 18, 2016
Very insightful and yet a bit disturbing in its honesty.
March 29, 2017
Goudsouzian frames Russell’s life story as one that fundamentally altered how basketball in the United States was perceived, how he helped lift the NBA to riches, and how he became the voice of black basketball while utterly dominating the NBA on route to 11 championships in 13 years. His Boston Celtics dynasty swept the NBA into legitimacy and firmly planted it as the third most popular professional team sport in the United States. As the first black superstar in the NBA, he broke the mold which by the time he left basketball in 1969, the majority of the league was black, a sharp break from when he entered and the NBA had a reputation as a white league. Goudsouzian looks to Russell’s family history in Louisiana of refusing to compromise dignity in the face of white intimidation, and how Russell’s personality as being extremely friendly to his friends and very cold to strangers helped him focus. Goudsouzian argues that Russell did not reach his full potential as a symbol of dominance until Wilt Chamberlain came into the NBA. Friends off the court, Chamberlain dominated in every statistical and scoring categories during the 1960s on Philadelphia and Los Angeles teams, but Russell always won the championships. The drama between the two pushed the NBA into legitimacy and greatly increased fan interest outside of the regional rust belt and into the national consciousness. Furthermore, Russell was outspokenly involved in Civil Rights, running basketball camps in Mississippi during Freedom Summer and leading marches from the Roxbury neighborhood of notoriously racist Boston.
Key Themes and Concepts
-Russell straddled the black athlete generation between the equality by example of Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens, and the more militant Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Karim Abdul-Jabbar
-Black athletes began playing basketball in mass for the same reasons urban Jews and other immigrant groups did: it was a perfect city game. By 1950, in a dramatic population shift, 62% of the total black population in the US lived in cities and had begun taking to basketball.
-Russell made the NBA and set the pattern for professional basketball players to really succeed.
Key Themes and Concepts
-Russell straddled the black athlete generation between the equality by example of Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens, and the more militant Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Karim Abdul-Jabbar
-Black athletes began playing basketball in mass for the same reasons urban Jews and other immigrant groups did: it was a perfect city game. By 1950, in a dramatic population shift, 62% of the total black population in the US lived in cities and had begun taking to basketball.
-Russell made the NBA and set the pattern for professional basketball players to really succeed.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews