Bill Russell’s widow ‘touched’ by overwhelming reaction to her Celtics’ post - Bill Speros/Boston Herald

Bill Russell’s widow ‘touched’ by overwhelming reaction to her Celtics’ post
By BILL SPEROS/Boston Herald
June 12, 2024 at 6:12 a.m

Jeannine Russell nearly broke the internet this week.

Bill Russell’s widow posted three simple words from @RealBillRussell account on X (formerly Twitter) early in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

“LET’S GO CELTICS!!”

The interwebs did the rest.

As of Tuesday, that post generated more than nine million impressions.

“I was floored,” Jeannine Russell told the Herald in an exclusive phone interview Tuesday. “It’s been really exciting. It was heartwarming. Nine million impressions. What the heck? It’s crazy.”

There was some good-hearted confusion online.


No, Russ was not posting from the great beyond.

After the game, Jeannine Russell clarified what didn’t need clarification.

“To everyone who has reached out to this post. This is Bill’s wife. Please stay tuned for some exciting announcements on Building my husband’s legacy, and other amazing projects. Another great win tonight for the @celtics Brown or Holiday #BillRussellMVPFinalsAward,” she posted via the @RealBillRussell account.

Talking about her surprising dominance of social media isn’t easy for Jeannine Russell.

Her husband passed away at age 88 on July 31, 2022. His legacy is immortal. Discussing Bill Russell remains an emotional challenge for his widow. Something understandable by anyone who has lost someone close.

When Jeannine Russell speaks about the Celtics, especially via a social media account bearing her late husband’s name, she strives to do her best to channel his thoughts.

“When Bill Walton passed away, I was texting with (his widow) Lori and I just told her, ‘I’m going to put a tweet out’ but I said, ‘I just have to get my stuff together because it’s just so emotional.’ It’s just really hard. It’s hard to get my thoughts together in his voice. I want to make sure that I keep what he would be chirping in my ear into anything that I’m putting out there,” Russell said.

What happened this week was completely unexpected.

“I thought it was great to see the reaction. It kind of touched my heart that people care so much for him, and me, too,” she said.
She plans to keep posting on social media during the Finals. When possible.

“I always want to put it in a way that he would be saying it. And sometimes it’s just too much,” she said.

Jeannine Russell, 57, was at TD Garden for Game 1. The Celtics and the NBA honored the late Bill Walton. The Russells and Waltons have been close friends for decades.

“Bill Walton was Bill Russell’s biggest fan. And he made that abundantly clear,” Jeannine Russell said.

Walton even crashed the party in Arizona after Bill and Jeannine renewed their wedding vows in 2020. Lori Walton sought Jeannine Russell’s support ahead of the ceremony honoring Bill Walton before Game 1.

“I dropped everything to be there,” she said.

It was a no-brainer.

“I know what it is like to have someone supporting you. I was so honored,” she said.

Jeannine Russell no longer watches sports on TV.

“I don’t have my commentator chirping in my ear anymore,” she said. “The live games are easier. Lori (Walton) asked me, ‘Does this get any better?’ I told her, ‘Not so far.’ But the problem is when all the noise stops. That’s what gets you. So it’s kind of rough.”

These days, “everything” for Jeannine Russell means a 19-year-old beagle Princess Leia. The dog has a brain tumor that impairs her mobility but the Force remains strong within her. She was Bill Russell’s princess, as well.

Russell lives in Washington state. She wants to be in attendance if/when the Celtics capture Banner 18. She’s considering a trip to Dallas if Game 4 is a potential clincher. And will continue to keep some flexibility in her schedule depending on how the series progresses.

A neighbor will watch for Princess Leah in her absence.

Russell said the performance of Joe Mazzulla, even two years ago in his first full season as head coach, impressed her late husband.
“He was very proud of Joe, that he kept the team basically together,” Russell said of her late husband’s assessment of Mazzulla. “A lot of guys would come into a team, and say, ‘This is my team, I’m taking over. I’m going to restructure everything and start from scratch.’ And I know that Bill liked the fact that he recognized that (Mazzulla) had something he could work with.”

This season, “these guys are team players,” she added.

Jeannine Russell said she and her late husband share a kinship with Brown.

“Jaylen Brown has such a special place in my heart because of the whole spirit of how he conducts himself on the court, off the court, and what he does in the community. It just reminds me so much of Bill. I just think he’s just really underrated,” she said. “All the guys on the team, and I think Bill would think, too, they’re all in the right place to win because the mind frame of being a team and putting the team first, I think is what’s going to really put them over the top to win the championship.”

Russell hashtaged Brown and Holiday as potential Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award winners after Game 2. She wasn’t slighting anyone. Nor was she calling the series over after just two games. After all, husband was 10-0 in Game 7s.

But it’s clear that seeing a member of the Celtics win the Bill Russell Trophy would bring some welcome to joy to Jeannine Russell. No Celtics player has won the award since David Stern and the NBA re-named it in Russell’s honor in 2009.

“That just would really mean the world to him. It meant so much to him when David had given that honor to him. He took great pride in the fact of his finals record and Game 7s. I think that he would just really be ecstatic that it would go to a fellow Celtic,” she said.

Awesome post. He is watching from the great beyond. Fingers crossed

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Bill Russell's widow, Jeannine Russell.





Bob


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Great article, the reference to their dog Princess Leia got to me somehow more than the rest. It would be great of the League to let her present the Finals MVP Award, too.

I love everything about Bill Russell, his legacy, and the Celtics. One question though, Since Bill died before Joe took over as head coach, how did he root for Joe?

"Her husband passed away at age 88 on July 31, 2022."

Mazzulla was named Boston's interim head coach following Udoka's suspension on Sept. 22, 2022.

BingBang! wrote:Great article, the reference to their dog Princess Leia got to me somehow more than the rest. It would be great of the League to let her present the Finals MVP Award, too.

BingBang!
Great idea.

Shawn Kemp gets it.

https://share.newsbreak.com/7f88kp55