Gesture to tribute Bill Russell
Bill Russell died at the age of 88 last month. He was a basketball and NBA legend who played for the Boston Celtics throughout his career.
His death shook the league and all of its members to say the least. To honor the Celtics legend, NBA has decided to retire the number 6 for all jerseys.
“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “Permanently retiring his number six across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized.”
Russell is the first player to have his jersey number retired throughout the NBA. The Celtics had already retired his number. Moreover, NBA also plans to have players wear a commemorative patch on the right shoulder of their jerseys.
Along with that, each NBA court will have a clover-shaped logo along with a number 6 displayed near the scorer’s table.
He becomes the third man to have their number retired league-wide in the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
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Is Russell the only one to receive this gesture?
Bill Russell is the third person to have their number retired league-wide in the nation-wide professional leagues in US and Canada.
Major League Baseball retired Brooklyn Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson’s number 42 jersey throughout the league in 1997. This was to mark 50 years since Robinson broke the colour barrier that excluded black players from MLB teams.
In 2000, NHL retired Wayne Gretzky’s number 99 jersey as well.
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Players who wear number six in NBA
LeBron James and Montrezl Harrell are just some of the players who wear number six jersey in the NBA.
New players will be unable to wear number six.
Bill Russell’s career
Throughout his career, Bill Russell won a record 11 NBA titles and five NBA MVP awards. He also captained the USA to Olympic gold in 1956 and made a significant impact as the league’s first black head coach and an equal rights pioneer.
In 1975, Hall of Fame inducted Russell as a player and in 2021, as a coach.
He averaged a whopping 22.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 15.1 points per game in his thirteen years with the Celtics.
Also read: Top 5 players with the most NBA Finals MVP Awards.
