TY - BOOK ID - 138434796 TI - King of the Court PY - 2010 SN - 1282763903 9786612763908 052094576X 9780520945760 9780520258877 0520258878 0520269799 9780520269798 9781282763906 PB - Berkeley University of California Press DB - UniCat KW - Basketball players KW - Basketball KW - History. KW - Russell, Bill, KW - 1950s. KW - 1960s. KW - 20th century. KW - african american athletes. KW - african americans. KW - america. KW - athlete biographies. KW - athletes. KW - athletics. KW - basketball fans. KW - basketball. KW - bill russell. KW - biographical. KW - biography. KW - black athletes. KW - boston celtics. KW - civil rights movement. KW - famous athletes. KW - nba history. KW - nba. KW - nonfiction. KW - professional basketball. KW - racial integration. KW - social history. KW - sport politics. KW - sports biographies. KW - sports historians. KW - sports history. KW - sports journalism. KW - sports. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:138434796 AB - Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. In King of the Court, Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell's leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game's texture. His teams provided models of racial integration in the 1950s and 1960s, and, in 1966, he became the first black coach of any major professional team sport. Yet, like no athlete before him, Russell challenged the politics of sport. Instead of displaying appreciative deference, he decried racist institutions, embraced his African roots, and challenged the nonviolent tenets of the civil rights movement. This beautifully written book-sophisticated, nuanced, and insightful-reveals a singular individual who expressed the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. while echoing the warnings of Malcolm X. ER -