Bill Russell’s childhood sounds like something out of a movie.
In an Instagram post shared by @procityhoops, the legendary Boston Celtics center told a story about how his mother had him fight five guys after they messed with him. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Yes, you read that correctly. Mother took him around until he found the five guys, and she then had him square up with every single one of them.
You can watch him tell the wild story below.
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That’s one of the craziest stories I’ve ever heard in my life. Imagine squaring up with five guys at the age of nine.
Now, it’s important to note that Bill Russell didn’t say he was fighting five kids his age. He specifically stated they were “guys.”
Does that mean they were teenagers? Were they even older? I have no idea, but it would certainly seem like they weren’t five young children.
So, the 11-time NBA champion had to trade punches with five older guys, and still managed to take two of them down.
If that’s not impressive for a nine-year-old, I don’t know what is.
Also, imagine this story playing out in 2022. It would never happen. Not in a million years. The parent would probably be arrested. Not the case when Bill Russell was a kid nearly eight decades ago!