Russell, Bill (William Felton Russell), 1934–, American basketball player, b. Monroe, La. Named an All-American while on the Univ. of San Francisco team, he played on the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the 1956 Olympics. That year he joined the Boston Celtics in his 13 seasons with the team he won the Most Valuable Player award five times. After leaving the Celtics in 1969 he was a television sports announcer and the coach (1973–77) of the Seattle SuperSonics.

See his autobiography Second Wind (1979) and his Red and Me (with A. Steinberg, 2009).