The GOAT is Gone

Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, who won 11 championships in 13 seasons with the team, has died, his family announced Sunday. He was 88.


Bob


.

I think we all knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later but still I am left with a great deal of sadness.

Ny heart is broken. Absolutely the best player I ever watched in my life

RIP to an outstanding human being. Also a great basketball player.

Jaylen Brown
@FCHWPO




Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO
about 25 minutes ago
I’m honored to be able to have spent time with you @RealBillRussell thank you for everything you stood for you #forever6


Bob


.

I feel like I should have been better prepared for this, but it feels like I swallowed a lug wrench.

No words…..

Bob


.

Wow. Just wow. Tears won’t stop when I watch that video and hearing Johnny Most. I remember all of those calls while I listened to the games on radio.
It’s so sad to see him go. What a great human being.

bobheckler wrote:Jaylen Brown
@FCHWPO




Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO
about 25 minutes ago
I’m honored to be able to have spent time with you @RealBillRussell thank you for everything you stood for you #forever6


Bob


.

Sad day

Great photo and great words from Jaylen

RIP Bill Russell. One of the greatest players to ever pick up a ball. Didn't even have enough fingers for all his rings. Great player who always rose to occasion. Greater man who always rose to the occasion.

Sad and grateful at the same time. Sad that he is gone but grateful that he spent time on this earth. Very grateful.

The very best player ever, both individually and especially team-wise. I absolutely loved the man. A sad day for not only Celtic fans but for humanity in general.

Berlin-T

Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhuru on the original Star Trek, also passed away today at the age of 89.

I mention this here because she was a TV trailblazer.   She was the first African-American woman in a non-menial TV role.  She, and William Shatner, shared the first on-screen interracial kiss on the lips.  She wanted to quit Star Trek after the first season but Martin Luther King, who was a fan of the show, begged her to stick with it because she was a role model for African-Americans.   After she retired she continued to speak on behalf of NASA to encourage women,  especially African-American women, to become scientists.

Basketball lost a lion but the civil rights movement lost a lion and a lioness today.  We are not the same country today because of them.


Bob


.

You know something.

The Celtics are not about the name written across the front of their Jerseys.  It is something else.  Something that goes much deeper and reflects the very fabric of  the Boston Celtics.  It's the culture and how that moves forward from one generation to another.  

Bill Russell accomplishments on the court and off the court became a dominant part of that culture.   A sense of fair play with an intense desire and work ethic to win the game.  He defined what winning was at an ultimate level that still remains, to this day, unfathomable to really comprehend.

His social activism helped to transform sports and this country at a time when we needed it the most.  

As we head into a new season, it should be dedicated to him.  Our collective memories of him and what he did remain with us.

dboss, I am 100% down with that.

Hi,
Sad, sad day.
RIP William Felton Russell

AK

Bill Russell made the Celtics the Celtics.

He was also among the finest examples one can find of a life well lived.

A legend has passed. I only knew of him as a legend having never experienced his play, except in highlights and replays. RIP.

People from all walks of life, not just the NBA and its athletes, have tweeted their respect and appreciation of Bill Russell.  His life, his sports achievements, his successes in advancing our society towards a more color-blind one.

But not LeBron James.  I just looked at his twitter account and am not seeing any mention of the GOAT.  The asshole who calls us 'racists', who called for #23 to be retired by the league but wore #6 himself.

Britney Griner but not Bill Russell?  Nothing against Griner but c'mon!  Not so much as a peep about the passage of the NBA's first black head coach?  What a piece of garbage.  


Bob


.

https://fb.watch/eDW6xkim6x/


Bob


.

Still looking for the self proclaimed King and the self proclaimed face of the NBA to make a statement concerning the death of the one and only King and the one and only real face of the NBA- Our Bill Russell. Still M.IA.Uhh you piece of s**t?

"Re: The GOAT is Gone
Post by NYCelt Yesterday at 10:00 pm

Bill Russell made the Celtics the Celtics.

He was also among the finest examples one can find of a life well lived.
NYCelt
NYCelt

Posts : 9940
Join date : 2009-10-12"

FYI, Ten years or so ago I was dating a gal in Florida who came from an upscale suburb in Boston, probably Reading, but I'm not sure. She knew I was an avid Celtics fan, and although she had no interest in any sports whatsoever, she did tell me that her next door neighbor in 1964, when she was 12 years old, was Bill Russell. She said Mr. Russell was good friends with her dad who was a doctor.  The Russell's would come over for dinner often, and he was a very nice man to her, and her dad really liked him. Looking back I'm happy that Bill had a least one family of non-racist neighbors near Boston.

A national treasure whose words and actions persist.