Russell, "Honey" (John D.)
Basketball
b. May 3, 1903, Brooklyn, NY
d. Nov. 15, 1973
Russell began playing professional basketball with the Brooklyn Visitations when he was sixteen. Virtually all the team's players were Jewish and they had to cope with bigotry as well as opposing teams when they were away from home. He once said of that period, "The Jew-baiters got there early--they'd have stones inside the snowballs and it was hell getting inside the hall, much less playing the game."
When the American Basketball League was formed in 1925, Russell joined the Cleveland Rosenblums and helped lead to the team to the ABL championship. He later played for the Brooklyn-New York Jewels, the Rochester Centrals, and the Chicago Bruins.
A four-time ABL all-star, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Russell was generally considered the best defensive player of his era, but he could also score. He once held the professional record of 22 points in a game at a time when entire teams often scored fewer points.
Russell became coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall University, in 1936 and he coached the team to 43 straight victories from 1938 into 1941, a record at the time. He played and coached professional basketball during World War II, when Seton Hall dropped the sport, and in 1946 he became the first coach of the Boston Celtics, compiling a 42-66 record in two seasons.
In 1949, Russell returned to Seton Hall. He retired after the 1959-60 season with an overall record of 294 wins and 129 losses. Through much of his coaching career, Russell also served as a scout for major league baseball and professional football teams.