Honey Russell
(1902-1973)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1964
Card Shown:
1986-2002 Basketball Hall of Fame Metallic
Position: G
Height: 6’1″
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John “Honey” Russell started his professional basketball career when he was only sixteen years old. Over the next 28 years he played in over 3,200 games for at least 34 teams in a number of different basketball leagues. Honey often served as a player-coach for these teams, which prepared him for full-time coaching that he did after his playing days were over. Russell was known as one of the top defensive players of his era. On offense, he once scored 22 points in a game, which at the time was a professional basketball record.
Awards and Honors
- Russell started “barnstorming” with teams at 16 years of age. Barnstorming was the practice of a team traveling to many different locations to schedule and play games outside of a formal league.
- Honey led the Cleveland Rosenblums to the 1925-26 American Basketball League (ABL) Championship in 1925-26. Russell’s 7.4 point per game scoring average was the second highest in the league that year.
- Russell was a four-time ABL All-Star with the Cleveland Rosenblums and the Chicago Bruins.
- Honey won two ABL Championships and one Eastern League Championship during his career.
Points of Interest
- A few of the many teams that Honey played for included the Albany Senators, the Brooklyn Americans, the Brooklyn Jewels, the Larksville Larks, and the Newark Mules.
- Russell served as a baseball scout for 26 years for three different teams: the Atlanta Braves, the Montreal Expos, and the Chicago White Sox. A few of the notable players that he signed were Earl Williams and brothers Joe and Frank Torre. In 1971, Joe Torre (playing for the St. Louis Cardinals) was the National League MVP and Earl Williams (with the Atlanta Braves) was the National League Rookie of the Year.
- John played professional football for a short time with the Chicago Bears. He also scouted for the Los Angeles Rams and the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.
- After his playing career was over, Russell had two coaching stints at Seton Hall. He coached there from 1936-1942 and again from 1950-1961. In 1953 he coached Seton Hall to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Championship. His overall record at Seton Hall was 294 wins and 137 losses. One of the players he coached at Seton Hall was Hall of Famer Bob Davies.
- Russell was the first coach of the Boston Celtics of the NBA for two seasons from 1946-1948. John used to say that he was the first Russell to coach the Celtics. Later on, player-coach Bill Russell would lead the Celtics to NBA glory.
Honey Russell Videos
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