At the end of last month, the NBA and its squad from “Beantown” said goodbye to the most prominent winner in the history of the NBA. His was the first African American to be hired as a head coach and the first to win a title in any of the four major North American pro sports (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB). Near the close of this past week, the NBA, and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) made a major announcement in honoring the life and legacy of this great champion both on and off the hardwood.
This past Thursday, it was announced that
Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who led the Boston Celtics to 11 titles in his
13-year NBA career (1956-1969) and was a civil rights activist will have his
No. 6 jersey retired throughout “The Association.”
Mr. Russell passed away on July 31 at age
of 88.
“Great decision,” NBA champion Matt
Barnes, who played for nine teams in his 14-year NBA career said on ESPN’s “NBA
Today” last Thursday. “Historical significance on and off the court will never
be forgotten. So, it’s great.”
NBA reporter Tim Bontemps added, “There’s
nobody more deserving of this honor than Bill Russell in the history of the
NBA. So, I’m glad they’re doing this.”
Along with retiring Mr. Russell’s jersey
number, the league will pay tribute to him throughout the upcoming 2022-23
season. All NBA players will wear a commemorative patch on the right shoulder
of their jerseys, and all 30 NBA courts will display a clover-shaped logo with
the No. 6 on the sideline near the arena’s scorer’s table.
The Celtics also said that they will have
a separate and own unique recognition for Mr. Russell on their uniforms to be
announced very soon.
“This is a momentous honor reserved for
one of the greatest champions to every play the game,” NBPA Executive Director
Tamika Tremaglio said in a statement.
She added, “Bill’s actions on and off the
court throughout the course of his life helped to shape generations of players
for the better and for that, we are forever grateful. We are proud to continue
the celebration of his life and legacy alongside the league.”
Regarded by many as the greatest winner in
the history of not just the NBA but all pro sports and regarded as a model
teammate, Mr. Russell changed the game with his ability to dominate defensively
and was one of the first in the history of the NBA to bring a combination of
gracefulness and athleticism to the center position.
Mr. Russell record 11 NBA title in 13
seasons, which followed consecutive NCAA national titles at the University of
San Francisco (1955 and 1956) and helping lead Team USA’s Men’s Basketball Team
(1956) to Gold at the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
That said run of 11 titles in 13 seasons
by the Celtics with Russell included an NBA-record eight consecutive NBA titles (1959-66).
Mr. Russell was so synonymous with success
that the NBA named its Finals Most Valuable Player Award for him in 2009.
Bill Russell’s NBA Career Resume
Four-time NBA Rebounding champion
Ranked No. 2 in NBA history in total rebounds (21,260)
Ranked No. 2 In Career Rebounds Per Game (22.5) in regular season
Five-Time Kia MVP
12-Time NBA All-Star selection
11-time All-NBA selection
Named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams (25th, 35th, 50th,
75th)
Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975
As great as Mr. Russell was on the floor,
his achievements off the floor exceeded those achievements he had on the court.
In 1966, the Celtics hired Mr. Russell to
be the team’s new head coach, making him as the first NBA head coach not just in
NBA history but in the history of the NFL, NHL, and MLB. As player-coach of the
Celtics, he helped to guide them to back-to-back titles in 1968 and 1969.
While in the midst of his magnificent NBA
career and after it, Mr. Russell became a passion advocate for equal rights and
values, and inclusion. He marched on many occasions with the late Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and stayed steadfast in his belief that all people
should be treated equally.
That hard work and dedication over many
years to social justice as well as his athletic feats on the court, Mr. Russell
was awarded this nation’s highest civilian honor in 2010 by then President
Barack Obama, the President Medal of Freedom in 2010 at The White House by then
President Barack Obama.
“I mean, he’s a pioneer,” Barnes said
about Mr. Russell’s amazing NBA career and activism. “What he did on the court
speaks for itself. But also, what he did off the court. For the movement of
black players in particular and just the Black Movement overall.”
Mr. Russell’s No. 6 jersey, which was
first retired by the Celtics in 1972 will be the first in the NBA’s history to
be permanently retired. It will also be the third person in the four major
North American pro sports to have their number permanently retired.
Major League Baseball (MLB) permanently retired No. 42 in honor of the late great Jackie Robinson on Apr. 15, 1997. Mr. Robinson was the first pro sports player to have their jersey retired throughout one of the four major American sports leagues. The second player in pro sports to have their jersey number retired permanently was No. 99 of National Hockey League’s (NHL) “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky’s in 2000.
Player who currently wear No. 6 will be
grandfathered. But the No. 6 will after these said player will no longer be
issued again.
Since Mr. Russell’s retirement as a player
in the NBA following the 1968-69 season, no other Celtic has worn jersey No. 6.
MLB also had a grandfather clause that
allowed a handful of players that wore No. 42 to continue to do so until when
they subsequently changed teams or jersey numbers. This affected such players
like former New York Mets Butch Huskey and former Boston Red Sox Mo Vaughn. The
last player to wear No. 42 in MLB on a regular basis was Hall of Fame and
five-time World Series champion closing pitcher of the New York Yankees Mariano
Rivera, who retired at the conclusion of the 2013 season.
In the history of the NBA, there have been
more than 250 players in its history to wear the No. 6 jersey. That group
includes 24 players that did so for at least one game in 2021-22. The most
notable is four-time Kia MVP, four-time NBA champion and four-time Finals MVP
LeBron James, who has alternated between No. 6 and No. 23 throughout his first
19 NBA seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers (for two stints), Miami Heat and
Los Angeles Lakers.
Current Players Who Wear/Wore No. 6 Jersey
(Team/Status)
LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
Kristaps Porzingis (Washington Wizards)
Alex Caruso (Chicago Bulls)
Hamidou Diallo (Detroit Pistons)
Melvin Frazier (Oklahoma City Thunder/Free Agent)
Lou Williams (Atlanta Hawks/Free Agent)
Lance Stephenson (Indiana Pacers/Free Agent)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Utah Jazz)
Bryn Forbes (Denver Nuggets/Signed with Minnesota Timberwolves)
Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks)
Jalen McDaniels (Charlotte Hornets)
Jordan McLaughlin (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Kenyon Martin, Jr. (Houston Rockets)
Moses Brown (Cleveland Cavaliers/Free Agent)
David Duke, Jr. (Brooklyn Nets/Free Agent)
Keon Johnson (Portland Trail Blazers)
Mr. Russell is one of 12 players that are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that wore No. 6 at one time their great career. That group includes Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, Patrick Ewing, Ben Wallace, Don Barksdale, Chuck Cooper, Larry Costello, Tom Gola, Cliff Hagan, Alex Hannum, Buddy Jeanette, Neil Johnston.
At the close of last month, the NBA said
goodbye to a beloved figure who dominated on the court and became a dominant
force for social justice off of it. He produced a career resume that displayed
his individual greatness, but what separate him for the rest was his ability to
lose himself within the team and to make his teammates better both on and off
the hardwood.
To honor the memory of the now late Bill
Russell, the NBA and it’s Players Association announced last week that they
will retire his No. 6 jersey throughout the NBA.
The question now is, will the NBA do what
MLB did to honor Jackie Robinson by having a day to honor Mr. Russell where all
players would wear No. 6.
This is something MLB did starting on Apr.
15, 2004, where they honored Mr. Robinson’s debut in the big leagues of
baseball. For the 60th Anniversary of Mr. Robinson breaking baseball’s
color barrier, MLB invited all of its players to wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson
Day in 2007. This great gesture was an original idea Hall of Famer Ken Griffey,
Jr., who sought Mr. Robinson’s widow Rachel for permission to wear No. 42. Once
he got the okay, then Commissioner Bud Selig not only allowed Griffey, Jr., to
wear No. 42, but extended the invitation to all players in the majors to do the
same.
“So, it’ll be interesting to see, you
know, how creative we can be moving forward to honor his legacy,” Barnes said
about how the league will honor Bill Russell and continue to make sure his
contributions to the NBA and society will never be forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment