Bill Russell discusses how his father’s mentorship propelled his Hall of Fame career

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/14/bill-russell-discusses-how-his-fathers-mentorship-propelled-his-hall-of-fame-career/








Bill Russell discusses how his father’s mentorship propelled his Hall of Fame career


By: Quenton S. Albertie | September 14, 2018 2:58 pm



On Wednesday, former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell appeared in a mini-documentary style video on Twitter and described the mentorship his father brought to his Hall of Fame career along with his personal philosophies on “common humanity”

   My take on the power of mentoring in support of A #NightOfUnity hosted by @PlayersTribune. As a @MENTORnational co-founder and aim to inspire others to get involved. Check out the online auction at https://t.co/hxsTIBkCx1 and bid today! #MentorIRL pic.twitter.com/l0OnwZzYb8 @NBA

   — TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) September 12, 2018

While saying that the day he earned his father’s respect while playing against him on the basketball court was his most important moment as a player, the biggest piece of advice that Russell would mention his father giving to him is this:


   “Nobody can help you unless you help yourself first.”

That motto would evolve as Russell became a player, and felt an increasing responsibility to use his platform and assets for the betterment of the world.

An 11-time champion, 11-time All-NBA selection, 12-time All-Star and 5-time MVP who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, Russell has made an enormous impact on and off the court.

His namesake can be found on the NBA Finals MVP trophy. He was a leader on the Celtics, even playing as a player-coach for the last three seasons of his career. Off the court, he was a civil rights activist.

Today, he’s the co-founder of MENTOR, a national mentoring partnership whose “mission is to fuel the quantity and quality of mentoring relationships for America’s young people and to close the mentoring gap.”

Former Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas is one of the notable players to participate in the program.

   .@IsaiahThomas knows that youth with a mentor are 52% less likely to skip a day of school. Become a #MentorIRL today to help kids thrive and stay in school! https://t.co/opTC2OikaU #NBAVoices pic.twitter.com/Zw6znjMe07

   — NBA Cares (@nbacares) September 11, 2018

“A Night Of Unity” will be hosted by The Players Tribune and MENTOR on September 20. The event will function as “an evening of networking with high profile individuals from sports, media, and business, where you will participate in fun and unique activations, and hear powerful stories from those whose lives have been changed through mentoring and sport.”



bob



.

After 31 years as a public school teacher, I can only wish that so many of the kids I taught and coached had had the mentoring from their own fathers like Bill Russell got from his dad.

Unfortunately, far too many kids in schools in the last 40 years have not had any father-mentors in their lives.