When a figure like Bill Russell passes away, it transcends anything that happens on NBA hardwood. Rivalries don’t mean a thing when you have the utmost respect for the competitor on the other side of the ball. Russell demanded this respect perhaps more than any other athlete in league history.
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On the court, Bill was as transcendent as you could get. Entering the NBA in 1956 as a member of the Boston Celtics, it was clear he was leaps and bounds ahead of other players in the league. Everything from his verticality to his defensive prowess made him the best player in the world in little to no time.
He would lead the Celts to a title in his rookie season and then go on to dominate the 1960s with 9 titles solely in that decade, bringing his total to 11. Of course, it was his contributions to the abolishment of segregation in the United States that truly cemented him as an American icon.
Stephen Curry and the Warriors talk about Bill Russell
The Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals and have built up a solid rivalry with the East Coast giants in these past few months. Ahead of tonight’s rematch against them, the Warriors players along with Steve Kerr sat down and talked about what Bill Russell meant to the game of basketball.
The common consensus amongst players has been that it was incredible how he managed to be the best player in the world while also balancing out his life as an activist. Russell was very much engaged with the black community and had preached for years on end that black people needed to be treated as equals.
His close friendship with Muhammed Ali made strides in this area of his life easier as it was difficult to ignore the noise what they were saying.
Bill Russell was faced with the cruel reality of white America in Boston
Despite being the player that he was, Bill Russell, during his reign over the NBA, was never truly accepted by a bevy of fans in Boston. He had to deal with everything from racial slurs to vandalism when he lived in Boston, from his own fans.
It was because of all of the racial injustices that he faced along with his fellow black men and women that he would once openly claim to dislike most white people. Though, he would admittedly state that this was a ‘deficiency’ of his.
Also read: “Constant Paranoia”: 4x NBA Champ Stephen Curry ‘Scared’ 6ft 4” Celtics Guard in 2022 NBA Finals
