This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/12/2021
Bill Russell may not rank as the greatest player of all time but you can certainly make a case that he was the most successful with 11 NBA championships in a 13-year career. A solid but not spectacular presence on the offensive end of the court, Russell excelled at defense and was a rebounding specialist, leading the NBA five times in the category while averaging 20 or more boards for 10 consecutive seasons. Russell was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks, but when Boston Celtics star center Ed Macauley requested a trade to the Hawks to be closer to his sick son, they offered Macauley and forward Cliff Hagen. Bill Russell was on his way to the Celtics and a career that is unprecedented to this day.
Sure, Macauley and Hagan both went on to post Hall of Fame careers and the Hawks won the championship in 1958, but the Celtics captured the NBA title for eight consecutive seasons from 1959-66. The 1957 Topps rookie card of Bill Russell is a scarce short print usually plagued with centering problems, but the featured example is very well-framed, especially for the grade. The corners and edges show traces of wear and there's the usual light layer of print dust scattered on the dark pigments of the surface, but overall the card appears to have all of the qualifications of a NM example and came home from PSA headquarters with an overly conservative assessment. One of the most important basketball cards ever made, and one of the most accurately centered that we've ever seen for the issue.