Bill Russell: Legend – Picture: Netflix
Netflix has set a February 2023 release date for one of its most anticipated upcoming sports documentaries exploring the life and career of famed NBA champion, coach, and civil rights activist Bill Russell.
The documentary, now titled Bill Russell: Legendwill hit Netflix worldwide on February 8, 2023.
It comes to Netflix almost exactly one year after Netflix initially announced it in February 2022. Back then, they provided the following synopsis for the upcoming doc:
“The definitive biodoc on NBA legend Bill Russell, the greatest champion in American sports history and a true civil rights icon. From humble beginnings, Russell led each and every one of his basketball teams to championships: two California state high school championships, two back-to-back NCAA titles, a gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. and 11 championship titles in his thirteen-year career as a Boston Celtic (the last two as the first black head coach in NBA history, while still playing for the Celtics). Bill’s story is innately and uniquely intertwined with the 75-year history of the NBA and the history of the last 8 decades of the United States.»
A new synopsis can already be found in the Netflix page for the documentary.:
«The NBA’s winningest champion and civil rights icon, Bill Russell, builds a larger-than-life legacy on and off the court in this biographical documentary.»
1987: Sacrament Kings head coach Bill Russell (second from left) during a Kings game against the Golden State Warriors. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)
Sam Pollard directs Bill Russell: Legend for Netflix. Spike Lee once described Pollard as a «master filmmaker».
The filmmaker’s recent projects include citizen ashethe hbo max documentary released in December 2021, MLK/FBI, Lord Soul!, Black art: in the absence of lightY Maynard.
Director Sam Pollard – Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images
Lawrence Gordon, Ross Greenburg, Evan Jaenichen and Mike Richardson are the producers of the documentary which has a TV-MA rating.
At press time, a trailer for the doc had not yet been released, and we’ll update this post as Netflix releases it.
Netflix is also currently working on a host of other documentaries in the world of sports to help them compete with ESPN, which is renowned for its library of sports documentaries.
For more on what’s coming to Netflix in the US and elsewhere in February 2023, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
Are you looking forward to the new Bill Russell documentary coming soon to Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.