Terrible Personnel Move Leads to Celtic Dynasty

Forty-three years ago today, a basketball player launched a dynasty. Bill Russell, 22-year-old University of San Francisco product and fresh from the Melbourne Olympic Games, played his first NBA game for the Boston Celtics.

He sparked a winning fourth-quarter rally against the St. Louis Hawks and in 21 minutes pulled down 16 rebounds. He blocked three shots in the fourth quarter alone.

That his debut was against St. Louis was ironic. The Hawks were the team that drafted Russell but traded him to Boston for Ed Macauley.

It remains arguably the worst player personnel move in the history of American team sports, and here’s how it came down:

Celtic coach Red Auerbach was first tipped about Russell in 1954, during Russell’s sophomore season, by Auerbach’s college coach, Bill Reinhart. But many wondered if Russell could be a productive scorer in the NBA, his shooting skills clearly deficient.

Auerbach didn’t care. It was rebounding he craved. His Celtics had the best fastbreak offense in the NBA but weren’t getting the ball enough.

By 1956, Russell was no longer a secret. He had led San Francisco to back-to-back NCAA titles and spurred the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal. Auerbach had the third pick in the 1956 NBA draft.

The first two picks belonged to Rochester and St. Louis. St. Louis owner Ben Kerner agreed to draft Russell, then send him to Boston for Macauley, a St. Louis native. Rochester drafted guard Si Green in exchange for--so the story went--Boston owner Walter Brown steering the Ice Capades into Rochester for two years.

The rest is painful history for the Hawks. Macauley played only three more seasons.

William Felton Russell led Boston to 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons and five times was named the league’s most valuable player.