Bill Russell redefined how basketball is played, and then he changed the way sports are viewed in a racially divided country.
The most prolific winner in NBA history, Russell marched with Martin Luther King Jr, stood with Muhammad Ali and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-US president Barack Obama. The centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years, Russell earned his last two NBA titles as a player-coach — the first black coach in any major US sport.
Russell died on Sunday at the age of 88, with his wife, Jeannine Russell, at his side, his family said in a statement posted on social media. No cause of death was immediately available; Bill Russell, who had been living in the Seattle area, was not well enough to present the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy in June due to a long illness.
Photo: AFP
“We hope each of us can find a new way to act or speak up with Bill’s uncompromising, dignified and always constructive commitment to principle,” the family said. “That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6.”
A hall of famer, five-time MVP and 12-time All-Star, Russell in 1980 was voted the greatest player in the NBA history by basketball writers. He remains the sport’s most decorated champion — he also won two college titles and an Olympic gold medal — and an archetype of selflessness who won with defense and rebounding while others racked up gaudy scoring totals.
“Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league,” he added.
Reaction poured in on Sunday, from Obama to Michael Jordan, from Magic Johnson to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“Today, we lost a giant,” Obama said. “As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher — both as a player and as a person. Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead.”
A Louisiana native, Russell also left a lasting mark as a black athlete in a city — and country — where race is often a flash point. He was at the March on Washington in 1963, when King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, and he backed Ali when the boxer was pilloried for refusing induction into the military draft.
“To be the greatest champion in your sport, to revolutionize the way the game is played, and to be a societal leader all at once seems unthinkable,” the Celtics said on Sunday. “But that is who Bill Russell was.”
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