Bill Russell was a late bloomer. Before the college basketball accolades and a pair of national championships, before the 11 NBA titles and five MVP’s, before he became the most fearsome defensive player ever and a man firmly entrenched in the conversation for the greatest player of all time, there was a gangly, 5-foot-10 kid from Oakland's McClymonds High School who believed a job in the shipyards was in his future.
There proved to be so much more.
William Felton Russell died Sunday with his wife Jeannine at his side.