Cazzie Russell

Not to be confused with Campy Russell.
Cazzie Russell
Russell accepts the 1966 Big Ten MVP trophy
Personal information
Born June 7, 1944
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school Carver (Chicago, Illinois)
College Michigan (1963–1966)
NBA draft 1966: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career 1966–1981
Position Small forward
Number 14, 33, 32
Coaching career 1981–present
Career history
As player:
1966–1971 New York Knicks
1971–1974 Golden State Warriors
1974–1977 Los Angeles Lakers
1977–1978 Chicago Bulls
1978–1979 Great Falls Sky
1980–1981 Philadelphia Kings
1982 Lancaster Lightning
As coach:
1981–1982 Lancaster Lightning
1988–1990 Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
1996–2009 SCAD
2014–2017 Armstrong State (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

  • CBA Coach of the Year (1982)
Career NBA statistics
Points 12,377 (15.1 ppg)
Rebounds 3,068 (3.8 rpg)
Assists 1,838 (2.2 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2011

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. He won an NBA championship with the Knicks in 1970.

College career

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

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. 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. The Warriors did not offer him a no-cut contract. 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. 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

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. 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. He also served as assistant coach of the Atlanta Hawks for two seasons (1988–1990).

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. He still remains at the college in an administrative capacity.

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

He spent several years as head coach at Centennial High School in Columbus, Ohio, during the mid-1990s before taking the job in Georgia. He is now the assistant coach of the Flagler College Saints women's basketball team.

Military service

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. He participated in army service during the basketball season, including being recalled to active duty during national emergencies.

Honors

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

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

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

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