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Cazzie Russell

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Not to be confused with Campy Russell.

Cazzie Russell
Russell accepts the 1966 Big Ten MVP trophy
Personal information
Born (1944-06-07) June 7, 1944 (age 80)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High schoolCarver (Chicago, Illinois)
CollegeMichigan (1963–1966)
NBA draft1966: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1966–1981
PositionSmall forward
Number14, 33, 32
Coaching career1981–present
Career history
As player:
1966–1971New York Knicks
1971–1974Golden State Warriors
1974–1977Los Angeles Lakers
1977–1978Chicago Bulls
1978–1979Great Falls Sky
1980–1981Philadelphia Kings
1982Lancaster Lightning
As coach:
1981–1982Lancaster Lightning
1988–1990Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
1996–2009SCAD
2014–2017Armstrong State (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

  • CBA Coach of the Year (1982)
Career NBA statistics
Points12,377 (15.1 ppg)
Rebounds3,068 (3.8 rpg)
Assists1,838 (2.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft.[1] He won an NBA championship with the Knicks in 1970.

College career

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Russell, between John Egan and Ron Miller of the Loyola Ramblers, lunges for the ball

In 1962, while playing at Chicago's Carver High School, Russell was named the Chicago Sun-Times Boys' Player of the Year. Russell played college basketball at the University of Michigan.

Along with Bill Buntin, Russell led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles (1964–66) and to Final Four appearances in 1964 and 1965, losing in the final game 91–80 to defending national champion UCLA and John Wooden in 1965.

In 1966, Russell averaged 30.8 points per game and was named the College Basketball Player of the Year. Crisler Arena, which opened in 1967, has been dubbed The House that Cazzie Built. Russell was also initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity - Sigma Chapter in 1964.

Professional career

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Russell was drafted by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft, playing for them for five seasons (1966–1971). While playing for the Knicks he was named to the 1967 All-Rookie Team and won the NBA Finals in 1970.

He was primarily the sixth man during his five seasons with the Knicks where he scored 4,584 points in 344 games. His playing time diminished during his last two years in New York as he sustained on separate occasions a fractured ankle and wrist. His desire to be traded by the Knicks was granted on May 7, 1971, when he was acquired by the Golden State Warriors for Jerry Lucas.[2] He appeared in the 1972 NBA All-Star Game.

Russell was the first player in NBA history to leave a team after finishing his option year when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on September 6, 1974.[3] The Warriors did not offer him a no-cut contract.[citation needed] While with the Lakers he became the last player to wear the number 32 and 33 jerseys before Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With the Lakers having signed Jamaal Wilkes during the offseason, Russell was one of the team's last player cuts entering the 1977–78 campaign when he was waived on October 16.[4] In 1978, he signed with the Chicago Bulls, which would conclude his NBA career.

In total, Russell spent 12 seasons in the NBA (1966–1978).

During the 1978–79 season, Russell played for the Great Falls Sky of the Western Basketball Association (WBA). He ended his career after the 1980–81 season when he played for the Philadelphia Kings of the Continental Basketball Association.

Coaching career

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In 1981, he became the head coach for the Lancaster Lightning of the CBA. He guided the team to the 1981–82 league championship. During the playoffs, with his team depleted by injuries, Russell came out of retirement and played for the Lightning in the final game of the league championship series, played in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Russell was named the CBA Coach of the Year in 1982.[5] Russell later coached the Wyoming Wildcatters, Grand Rapids Hoops and Columbus Horizon of the CBA and the Mid-Michigan Great Lakers in the Global Basketball Association.[6] He also served as assistant coach of the Atlanta Hawks for two seasons (1988–1990).[7][8]

He spent several years as head coach at Centennial High School in Columbus, Ohio, during the mid-1990s before taking the job in Georgia.

Russell was the head coach of the men's basketball team at the Savannah College of Art and Design for 13 seasons, until the college eliminated the sport in 2009.[9]

He served as an assistant coach at Armstrong State University until 2017 when it was discontinued.[10]

For the 2024-2025 season, Russell served as the special assistant to the head coach for the women's basketball team at Flagler College.[11][9]

Military service

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During the 1960s, while with the Knicks, Russell was in the Fighting 69th Regiment of the New York Army National Guard. He started in the army as a private.[12] He participated in army service during the basketball season, including being recalled to active duty during national emergencies.[13][14]

Personal

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Russell moved to Savannah, Georgia in 1996 with his wife Myrna White-Russell,[9][10] a former dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,[10][15] who died in 2014.[9][16]

Honors

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In 2006, Russell was voted as one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament, a group of former players and coaches in honor of the 100 anniversary of the IHSA boys basketball tournament.

Russell received the Bobby Jones Award in 2015 at the Athletes in Action All Star Breakfast, which is held each year at the NBA All Star Weekend.

In 2016 Russell was the recipient of the Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award at the Athletes in Action Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast, which is held each year at the Final Four.

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1966–67 New York 77 – 22.0 .436 – .785 3.3 2.4 – – 11.3
1967–68 New York 82 – 28.0 .462 – .808 4.6 2.4 – – 16.9
1968–69 New York 50 – 32.9 .450 – .796 4.2 2.3 – – 18.3
1969–70† New York 78 – 20.0 .498 – .775 3.0 1.7 – – 11.5
1970–71 New York 57 – 18.5 .429 – .773 3.4 1.4 – – 9.2
1971–72 Golden State 79 – 36.7 .455 – .833 5.4 3.1 – – 21.4
1972–73 Golden State 80 – 30.4 .458 – .864 4.4 2.3 – – 15.7
1973–74 Golden State 82 – 31.4 .482 – .835 4.3 2.3 .7 .2 20.5
1974–75 L.A. Lakers 40 – 26.4 .455 – .894 2.9 2.7 .7 .1 15.7
1975–76 L.A. Lakers 74 – 22.0 .463 – .892 2.5 1.6 .7 .0 11.8
1976–77 L.A. Lakers 82 – 31.5 .490 – .858 3.6 2.6 1.0 .1 16.4
1977–78 Chicago 36 – 21.9 .438 – .860 2.3 1.7 .5 .1 8.8
Career 817 – 27.2 .464 – .827 3.8 2.4 .8 .1 15.1
All-Star 1 0 20.0 .308 – 1.000 1.0 .0 – – 10.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1967 New York 4 – 22.3 .394 – .769 4.8 2.8 – – 15.5
1968 New York 6 – 34.8 .561 – .833 3.8 1.7 – – 21.7
1969 New York 5 – 7.2 .238 – 1.000 1.0 .2 – – 2.4
1970† New York 19 – 16.1 .485 – .947 2.5 .8 – – 9.4
1971 New York 11 – 10.9 .391 – 1.000 2.0 .7 – – 5.6
1972 Golden State 5 – 32.2 .492 – .750 4.4 1.8 – – 14.2
1973 Golden State 11 – 23.9 .490 – .864 3.3 1.5 – – 14.8
1977 L.A. Lakers 11 – 34.7 .414 – .880 4.4 2.3 1.5 .1 15.8
Career 72 – 21.8 .460 – .870 3.1 1.3 1.5 .1 11.8

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Benson, Michael (September 27, 2007). Everything You Wanted to Know About the New York Knicks: A Who's Who of Everyone Who Ever Played On or Coached the NBA's Most Celebrated Team. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 9781461734789.
  2. ^ "Knicks Deal Russell for Warriors' Lucas," The New York Times, Saturday, May 8, 1971. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "People in Sports," The New York Times, Saturday, September 7, 1974. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  4. ^ Green, Ted. "Lakers Trim to 12, Cut Russell and Robertson," Los Angeles Times, Monday, October 17, 1977. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "EPBL/EBA/CBA Superlatives". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  6. ^ "Having a ball in the Tri Cities". Detroit Free Press. December 8, 1991. p. 27.
  7. ^ Curtis, Jake (December 23, 2001). "WHERE ARE THEY NOW? / Joe Ellis and Cazzie Russell / A classic meeting / Ellis, Russell recall last time USF played Michigan". SFGate. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  8. ^ "Cazzie Russell - Coaching Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Dominitz, Nathan (April 10, 2020). After calling Savannah home for more than 23 years, basketball legend Cazzie Russell accepts post at Flagler. Savannah Morning News.
  10. ^ a b c Quinn, Brendan F. (June 12, 2017). "Cazzie Russell's long trip home". MLive.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  11. ^ Women's Basketball Coaching Staff. Flagler College.
  12. ^ Borgi, Augie. "Do Or Die For Knicks", The Record (Southwest Edition), Hackensack, New Jersey, volume 72, number 249, March 28, 1967, page B-8.
  13. ^ "NBA playoff battles start tonight" and "Al Dunning" sports column, The Evansville Press, Evansville, Indiana, March 25, 1970, 64th year, number 229, page 21-A
  14. ^ Miller, Norm. "OK Knicks' Mike, Caz for Playoffs", Daily News, volume 51, number 235, New York, New York, March 26, 1970, page 23C.
  15. ^ January 6, 2024. ALVIN AILEY’S 93RD BIRTHDAY. Photo: Alvin Ailey, Ella Thompson Moore, and Myrna White in Alvin Ailey's Revelations.Photo by Jack Mitchell (©) Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution.
  16. ^ Obituary (May 27, 2014).Myrna White Russell]. Campbell and Sons Funeral Home.
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