by NBA legend Bill Russell has died at the age of 88, his family said in a statement on social media.
“Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, died peacefully today at the age of 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon,” the family said in a statement released on Russell’s Twitter account Sunday.
“Bill’s two high school state championships offered a glimpse of the incomparable run of pure team achievement to come: two-time NCAA champion; captain of a gold medal-winning US Olympic team; 11-time NBA champion, and at the helm of two NBA championships as the first black head coach of a North American professional sports team,” the statement read.
“Along the way, Bill received a number of individual awards that are unparalleled since they were not named by him. In 2009, the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award was renamed after the two-time Hall of Famer to the ‘Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award,'” added the family.
The statement said Russell’s “understanding of the struggle … illuminated his life”.
“From boycotting a 1961 exhibition game to expose too long tolerated discrimination, to leading Mississippi’s first integrated basketball camp in the fiery aftermath of the assassination of Medgar Evans, to decades of activism finally recognized by his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010, Bill called out injustice with an uncompromising candor intent on disrupting the status quo, and with a powerful example that, though never his humble intention, will forever inspire teamwork, selflessness, and thoughtful change , the family said.
In a statement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Russell was “the greatest champion in all of team sports.”
“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the league’s DNA. At the height of his athletic career, Bill strongly advocated for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed on to generations of NBA players -players who followed in his footsteps, Silver said. “Through taunts, threats and unimaginable adversity, Bill rose above it all and stayed true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.”
When President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Russell in 2011, he said: “Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all people.”
“He marched with the king; he stood next to Ali. When a restaurant refused to serve the Black Celtics, he refused to play in the scheduled game. He endured insults and vandalism, but he continued to focus on making the teammates he loved better players and enabled the success of so many who would follow, Obama added.
Born in 1934, Mr Russell grew up in the segregated South and later lived in California. He said his parents gave him the confidence to shake off racist abuse.
“Years later, people asked me what I had to go through,” he said in 2008, according to the Associated Press. “Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’ve never been through anything. From the first moment I was alive, the notion was that my mother and father loved me.”
His mother told him to ignore comments from anyone who might see him in the yard.
“No matter what they say, good or bad, they don’t know you,” he recalled his mother saying. “They are fighting their own demons.”
Silver added that he “frequently called [Mr Russell] basketball’s Babe Ruth for how he transcended time”.
“Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever,” he added. “We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Jeannine, his family and his many friends.”
