Bill Russell’s wife sues his daughter over contract breach

Jeannine Russell, the widow of legendary Celtics middle Bill Russell, has filed a lawsuit in opposition to his daughter Karen Russell, in line with a number of experiences.

The lawsuit alleges that feedback Karen Russell made in a Boston Globe column final October “tarnished” her father’s legacy.

“My dad had well-known cognitive points,” Karen Russell instructed the Globe. “He was additionally exhausting of listening to on the finish of his life, which made it exhausting for everybody to keep up a correspondence with him.”

The feedback had been made in a sports activities column known as “Bill Russell’s daughter had never met Bob Cousy. Until now.”

Within the story, Karen Russell visits the 97-year-old legendary Celtics level guard and says that she needs Cousy to have peace in his golden years. Cousy had stated prior to now that he ought to have been extra delicate to the anguish Russell felt dwelling as a Black man in Boston after they had been teammates throughout the 1950’s and 60’s. He has expressed emotions in regards to the guilt in regards to the topic publicly, on a number of events.

Karen Russell was having a dialog with considered one of Cousy’s daughters when she was requested if Invoice Russell had dementia. Bob Cousy’s spouse, Marie, had battled dementia close to the top of her life, in line with the Globe story. The aforementioned quote attributed to Karen Russell got here after that query.

The lawsuit claims Karen Russell’s feedback should not true and that that they had violated a contract made on the finish of a earlier authorized dispute.

According to the Globe, Karen Russell and her siblings took Jeannine Russell to courtroom in 2015 over Invoice Russell’s psychological competency. They argued that he was a “susceptible grownup” who was being taken benefit of by his spouse, who has the authorized proper to his title, picture, and likeness.

According to the Boston Herald, Jeannine stated she is on a mission to “protect” her husband’s legacy.

The 2015 case was settled out of courtroom with “legitimate written agreements together with a doc known as ‘Confidentiality and Nondisparagement Settlement and Mutual Releases’ (CNA).”

“After execution of the CNA, Karen materially breached the Agreements; and particularly, the CNA,” Jeannine Russell’s authorized crew stated in an announcement.

“Although Karen made this declare, it was not true and was not substantiated in any continuing,” the statement reads. “Certainly, Invoice was cleared by a medical skilled to make his personal selections in reference to the (motion). Karen voluntarily accepted over half 1,000,000 {dollars} in consideration to retract this declare and agree to not make it publicly.”

Invoice Russell, who received an NBA-record 11 titles with the Celtics as a participant, together with two as a coach throughout his remaining two seasons, died in 2022.

The NBA retired Russell’s No. 6 jersey throughout the league. He, the NHL’s Wayne Gretzky, and MLB’s Jackie Robinson are the one figures within the 4 main North American sports activities leagues to have league-wide jersey retirement.

The NBA named it’s Finals MVP award after Russell. Oklahoma Metropolis guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the latest winner. The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown received the award in 2024.

Russell was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2010. There’s a statue of him outdoors of Boston Metropolis Corridor. The Metropolis of Boston renamed the North Washington Road Bridge the “Invoice Russell Bridge” in 2025.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the crew in 2022, Khari coated school soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.