Bryon Demetrise Russell (born December 31, 1970) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. During a

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) career that spanned from 1993 to 2006, he played for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

and

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

and was a key member of the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, helping them reach back-to-back NBA finals appearances in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Russell also played for the Hollywood Fame and Long Beach Breakers of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA). He finished his career with the Los Angeles Lightning of the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

(IBA), winning a championship in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

NBA career

Russell began playing basketball at San Bernadino High School. After playing three years of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

with Long Beach State University, Russell was drafted forty-fifth overall in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

by the Utah Jazz. A renowned defender throughout his career, Russell often guarded the best player from opposing teams. From 1997 to 2000, he played in every regular-season game for the Jazz. He went to back-to-back

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

with the Jazz in 1997 and 1998, but lost to the Chicago Bulls each time. Russell had arguably his best season with the Jazz in the 1999–2000 season, when he averaged 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In 2001, Russell participated in the

Three-Point Contest The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star weekend. The 2019 iteration of the contest involved ten participants. From its introduction in 1 ...

during all-star weekend. After playing nine seasons for the Jazz, Russell signed with the Washington Wizards as a free agent for the 2002–2003 season. Russell then signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent for the 2003–2004 season and made it to the

2004 NBA Finals The 2004 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship round of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2003–04 NBA season, 2003–04 season, and the conclusion of the 2004 NBA playoffs, season's playoffs. This season's NBA Finals was contest ...

but lost to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. He then signed with the Denver Nuggets as a free agent and played with them from 2004 to 2006. He was a part of the Seattle SuperSonics roster for a brief time in 2006 after being traded by the Nuggets but never appeared in a game for them. Russell's alma mater, Long Beach State University, retired his jersey in 2010.

Russell and Michael Jordan

Russell is best remembered for guarding

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

at the end of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. Jordan made the game-winning shot over Russell, although many fans believe Jordan pushed off Russell during the play. The referees did not call a foul on the play, and Russell later remarked, "Whether he pushed off or not, he was making that shot." He and Jordan were teammates when they played for the Washington Wizards during the

2002–03 NBA season The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in the 2003 NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The Hornets relocate from Ch ...

, which was Jordan's last. In 2009, Jordan mentioned Russell in his Hall of Fame induction speech, recalling an interaction they had during Jordan's first retirement in 1994: " this time, I had no thoughts of coming back and playing the game of basketball. Bryon Russell came over to me and said, 'Why did you quit? You know I could guard you.' ... From this day forward, if I ever see ussellin shorts, I'm coming at him." In response, Russell challenged Jordan to a game of one-on-one for charity. Such a match-up has not yet taken place, though the Utah Flash of the NBDL did stage a halftime game between Russell and a Jordan look-alike.ESP
D-League owner offers refunds to fans
"Associated Press". December 8, 2009. Retrieved on August 17, 2021

Career statistics

NBA statistics

Regular season

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Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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, 63 , , 15 , , 13.7 , , .437 , , .295 , , .667 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .8 , , .2 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 59 , , 9 , , 9.8 , , .394 , , .350 , , .716 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 31.2 , , .479 , , .409 , , .701 , , 4.1 , , 1.5 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 7 , , 27.1 , , .430 , , .341 , , .766 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 50* , , style="background:#cfecec;", 50* , , 35.4 , , .464 , , .354 , , .795 , , 5.3 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 70 , , 35.4 , , .446 , , .396 , , .750 , , 5.2 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 46 , , 31.7 , , .440 , , .413 , , .779 , , 4.2 , , 2.1 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 66 , , 40 , , 30.3 , , .380 , , .341 , , .821 , , 4.5 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 70 , , 23 , , 19.8 , , .353 , , .329 , , .768 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 72 , , 1 , , 13.1 , , .402 , , .384 , , .769 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

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, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , ... , , ... , , ... , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class=sortbottom , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 841 , , 392 , , 23.5 , , .431 , , .369 , , .750 , , 3.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 7.9 , - class=sortbottom

Playoff statistics

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1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

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, 2 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .571 , , .500 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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, 18 , , 0 , , 25.5 , , .468 , , .472 , , .816 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 20 , , 20 , , 37.9 , , .461 , , .356 , , .721 , , 4.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 20 , , 13 , , 34.9 , , .469 , , .365 , , .716 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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, 11 , , 11 , , 35.2 , , .426 , , .250 , , .722 , , 6.1 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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, 10 , , 10 , , 37.1 , , .421 , , .289 , , .756 , , 5.4 , , 2.1 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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, 5 , , 5 , , 42.8 , , .446 , , .455 , , .917 , , 7.2 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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, 4 , , 4 , , 30.0 , , .250 , , .400 , , 1.000 , , 4.3 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - class=sortbottom , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 105 , , 63 , , 29.3 , , .440 , , .365 , , .759 , , 4.2 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 9.9 , -

References

External links

* *
Greatest NBA clutch shots
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Bryon 1970 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from San Bernardino, California Denver Nuggets players Long Beach State Beach men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers players Small forwards San Bernardino High School alumni Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Washington Wizards players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen