There really is no greater man to have this honor posthumously bestowed upon him. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has announced today that Bill Russell’s #6 jersey will be the first jersey to be retired universally around the NBA.
This is an honor that few players in sports history, let alone the NBA, have received. Only the legendary Jackie Robinson (MLB: #42) and Wayne Gretzky (NHL: #99) have had their jerseys retired by every team across their respective leagues. That is how rare an honor this is.
And Bill Russell was more than deserves it. He fundamentally changed the sport of basketball not only on the court as a player and coach, but also off the court as a social justice activist.
Bill Russell’s revolutionary “vertical-defense” game spearheaded the Celtics into becoming the greatest NBA dynasty the sport has ever seen as the team won 11 NBA championships. Bill Russell himself won five MVP awards, with three of them (1961-63) occurring in three consecutive seasons. Like I said, his basketball talents, skills, and leadership would have earned him this honor by itself.
Yet, his social justice activism made this honor a formality. He single-handedly helped promote, advocate, and ensure that African American players have equal rights and opportunities, no matter the city/state/team they played in, to their Caucasian American teammates (all at the risk of his own career).
Mind you, this all took place during the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. These decades were definitely not known to be the most “just” times for African Americans. That is why Bill Russell is just so impressive. He stood up to a corrupt, immoral regime and won. His number deserves to be immortalized by every single NBA franchise.
Now, this change will have a significant impact on the current generation of players in the NBA.
From now on, no player will be allowed to wear the #6 jersey unless they are already doing so and do not wish to change their number. As of today, there are currently 25 players in the NBA who wear the #6, including LeBron James. Therefore, these players will be grandfathered into the new rule.
Nevertheless, I’m sure these players will wear the #6 with pride as they recognize the history the great Bill Russell created and inspired while wearing his Celtics-green #6 jersey. There truly was no one more deserving of such an honor than the late, great Bill Russell.
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