Russell treated the younger players with as much respect and admiration as they treated him. Charles Barkley, among others, simply referred to him as “Mr. Russell.”
On this day, the Los Angeles Lakers had just installed a statue of Elgin Baylor outside the team’s arena to commemorate his achievements. One of Baylor’s most vehement opponents stepped up and took a prominent seat in the audience on that warm April 2018 evening.
Bill Russell would stand out like a sore thumb at any Lakers function, even in a green polo shirt.
He couldn’t help but notice Russell’s presence as Baylor’s former teammate Jerry West stood behind a podium.
According to West, “all the losses have been to this individual over here. “Damn, I’ve forgotten what your name is. What’s this thing? Bill? If so, my last name is Bill Russell.
It was a big hit with the audience, so West kept going.
In a losing locker room, there are always more great stories to be told, especially when it’s the same darn team and the same smiling fool.
When I got within a few feet, I saw Russell grinning heartily. While West was on stage, he couldn’t stop laughing. During his 11-year tenure with the Boston Celtics, Russell won 11 NBA titles, seven of them came against the Los Angeles Lakers.
They became close friends after West played on six of the Lakers’ teams that fell to the Celtics. As if his lighthearted digs weren’t enough, he told the people gathered that day that he loved Russell to dispel any doubts they might have had.
When Russell was younger, he was generally the one giving the zingers. This was a role reversal. His quips were always welcomed with amusement, and in the instances when he was genuinely honest, his earnestness was met with great thanks from players who Russell’s impact on the NBA had a tremendous effect on.
On Sunday, Russell’s family announced that he had died peacefully with his wife by his side. He had reached the age of 88. Among other things, the statement referred to Russell’s championships—two at high school level, two at college level, one at the Olympics, and 11 at the NBA level—as well as his lifelong battle to overcome racism in sports. People were encouraged to remember Russell in their prayers as well. According to a statement, “Perhaps you’ll experience one or two of the precious moments he gave us, or recollect his signature laugh as he enjoyed in sharing the real tale behind those moments transpired.”
The basketball community has honored him by paying tribute to his entire life story, including the lighter times.
Why are there so many tall people? During a 2017 N.B.A. Awards Show, Russell posed the question to the audience. Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, David Robinson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were among the other hall of fame centers in attendance as the NBA presented Russell with a lifetime achievement award.
Each of them was pointed out as he studied the gathering. Then he put his palm over his lips and said, in a stage whisper, that he would beat them all, using colorful words.
After a year, he returned to the same award presentation as an audience member.
Charles Barkley thanked Bill Russell, the Hall of Fame forward, onstage.
Russell smirked and extended his middle finger to Barkley as the camera panned to him.
“Sorry everyone, I forgot it was live TV & I can’t help myself anytime I see Charles it just just pure instinct,” Russell tweeted later that night.
His quips were sometimes laced with arrogance because of the reverence basketball players of the future held for him.
When they saw him play, they were awed by his skill and how he became one of the most feared defenders of his time. The fact that he was the NBA’s first black superstar in an era of segregation, who was born in the Jim Crow South, who fought prejudice both in society and the NBA made him a hero to many of them. In Kentucky, Russell organized a game strike after he and his Black teammates were refused service at a restaurant. The N.B.A.’s unofficial quota system, which excluded more Black players, was the subject of his protests in the 1950s.
The recent basketball eras, in the view of numerous Hall of Fame players, have been considerably worse than their own.
Despite the fact that Russell’s popularity waned as he became older, he often demonstrated that he was grateful to some of the game’s younger stars.
In 2008, at the All-Star Game, he and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant were captured on camera sharing a touching moment.
Russell informed Bryant, “I watch a lot of your games,” that he did.
Bryant’s face lit up as he said, “Thank you.”
According to Russell, he observes games to assess how well the players are able to carry out their plans when they are on the field.
Bryant chimed up, “Me too,” with a smile. “However, I learned it from your book.”
Russell told Bryant he was as proud of him as if he were his own son after the two of them had a chuckle. A hug ensued between the two of them.
Years later, Bryant recalled how Russell had become a mentor to him and how he would just pick up the phone and contact Russell for advise.
Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six others perished in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. A few weeks after the crash, the Lakers and Celtics met in Los Angeles. Russel was sporting an official Los Angeles Lakers jersey, as well as a cap with Bryant’s monogram sewn in purple and yellow on the front.
In the same way that Russell’s connection with West transcended the bitterness of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, so did their relationship
With Kevin Garnett, who led the Celtics to their first NBA finals appearance since 1987, he became a close friendship. The Celtics acquired Garnett in a 2007 trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he began his NBA career.
“You’re my favorite player to watch; you never disappoint me,” Russell said to Garnett in an arena hallway during that season. During an interview with Russell and Garnett in 2008, ESPN played the film before the interview.
Garnett remarked, “You make so many jokes,” as a compliment. As far as I know, it’s not true.
‘No, it’s not a joke,’ Russell insisted as Garnett began to squirm in his chair. Then again, you never let me down. In the end, you were able to wear the proper attire.
Russell and Garnett then sat down for an interview, which was shown in the footage. They sat across from one another in seats in front of a wall covered in Celtics memorabilia for their date.
This place is going to provide at least two or three titles for you, according to Russell. When you don’t, but I observe you playing the game correctly, I’ll give you one of my own. According to him, “They’ll come if you keep playing the way you play and put in the effort.”
Similar to what he said to Bryant earlier, Russell conveyed the same idea to Garnett.
As proud of you as I am of my own children, Russell exclaimed.
Garnett and Russell exchanged thoughtful glances. While it was difficult to tell exactly, Russell’s eyes appeared watery as he spoke to Garnett through his square-cut glasses.
It was his chuckle that would be remembered by those who had heard it, as he joked about how Garnett’s No. 5 was near to No. 6, his own number.