Bill Russell must be smiling from the heavens as his Boston Celtics are just a game away from seizing their 18th championship in history. As someone who won 11 championships in a 13-year NBA career, Russell remains the biggest reason why the Celts are at the cusp of surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers as the NBA franchise with the most titles. Shortly before he passed away in 2022, the Celtics legend hyped his team to win it all in the 2022 NBA Finals when they went against the Golden State Warriors.
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On Russell’s Instagram handle, a recent clip showed him hyping up his Celts to win their 18th title. He wore a hat with the Celtics logo on it and despite his struggles with speech, let out an inspiring rallying call.
Russell, who wore #6 during his playing days, inspired his troops to lift the NBA title for him. Mustering all the energy in his body, the Celtics legend prompted, “Come on Celtics, let’s win it for the big guy, #6, Let’s go Celtics!”
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This throwback video on Russell’s official Insta handle was uploaded by his wife Jeannine Russell, who is now handling Russell’s social media accounts since his passing.
This video is symbolic since the Celtics are now battling the Dallas Mavericks for their 18th ring. During the ongoing series, Jeannine Russell wanted the Celtics legend and his family. “Bill & I posted this in 2022. I felt this was the perfect time to repost. I’m in Dallas to represent. Now let’s do this! “Let’s Go Celtics”,” she wrote on the caption.
The late great Bill Russell was a fan of the New Celtics squad that has led the Celtics close to a record-breaking title run.
Bill Russell repeatedly lauded the current Celtics’ core
Bill Russell always backed his Celts to reign supreme over anyone else. He made them dream about winning a championship at each turn. Moreover, he was a huge fan of Jayson Tatum and gave him shout-outs as the electric Wing scorer showcased his chops. In November 2021, Russell was at the Celtics’ home arena TD Garden to witness a 37-point masterpiece in a win against arch-rivals Lakers.
On his X, Russell highlighted the streak of four games over 30 points in an X post and wrote, “All I’m gonna say is I see you @jaytatum0 keep up the hard work! It was a treat watching you put up 37 against the Lakers the other night @celtics @NBA all this in the last 4 games”
All I’m gonna say is I see you @jaytatum0 keep up the hard work! It was a treat watching you put up 37 against the Lakers the other night @celtics @NBA all this in the last 4 games pic.twitter.com/a674EuS9Ho
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) November 23, 2021
Apart from that, when Tatum won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP in 2022 against the Miami Heat, he motivated him to finish the job at the ultimate stage. On X, he penned, ”Congratulations to the #EasternConferenceFinals champions @celtics & to #JasonTatum for receiving the 1st ever LarryBird #ECFmvp award. Maybe soon the #BillRussellFinalsMVP award #BleedGreen @NBA @espn”
These instances prove that Bill Russell bled Green to his core. He would have relished the Celtics’ 2024 Finals run as the dream is just a win away. The legacy left by Bill Russell will ring louder if Jayson Tatum and Co. lift the Larry O’Brien trophy in a few days.
