GREAT BUT LATE? Retiring Russell’s jersey number should have happened a long time ago

The NBA waited until two weeks after the Hall of Famer’s death to retire his No. 6 league-wide
ByRob Parker

https://deadspin.com/retiring-russell-s-jersey-number-should-have-happened-a-1849405340

Shame on the NBA.
On the surface, it’s a tremendous honor to permanently retire Bill Russell’s No. 6. The league, along with the Players’ Association, announced Thursday that his number will never be issued to any player from here on out.

After all, Russell was not only a great basketball player — winning 11 NBA championships in 13 years for the Boston Celtics — but a great person as well. He was a leader in civil rights off the court. He talked the talk and walked the walk. Faced with ugly racism in Boston, Russell did it with class and dignity.
A great honor befitting a great man.

Still, it feels like such a statement about the man came a day late and a dollar short.
Russell died two weeks ago at age 88.
The NBA had so many years to honor Russell while he was still alive and could have seen and experienced such a defining moment in one’s life.
But the league bounced the ball off their own foot on this one. It’s really shameful if you honestly think about it.
Russell should have been given his flowers while he was alive. Russell remained active and had a presence in the league into his 80s.
It’s not like he was out of sight and out of mind.
In 2020, during the push to get folks vaccinated, Russell did a TV public service announcement for the league.
Instead of seizing that moment to honor one of its own, the NBA continued with business as usual.
It wasn’t until Russell died and people started to dig back into his life that the NBA felt compelled to do what’s right.
There was never honestly a buzz about honoring Russell. I’ve been covering the NBA since 1987. Never heard it once.
In fact, the first time most heard about this was when Hall of Famer Magic Johnson tweeted the idea a day or so after Russell passed.
The NBA wound up being reactionary instead of proactive. This should have been in the works many years ago. You shouldn’t have to be told that you had a treasure among your ranks. You should have known.
Russell retired many moons ago and was a successful coach and broadcaster, too. Russell was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. The league could have honored him back then.
Better yet, they had another golden opportunity in 2010 when President Barack Obama honored Russell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his excellence on the court and on his commitment to social justice. Russell was 76 back then. Somehow, the NBA fell asleep at the switch on the momentous occasion.
It took Russell actually leaving us for the NBA to recognize the biggest man in the room. And that tag had nothing to do with his height. Clearly, Russell was head and shoulder above many when it came to standing up for what was right.
To be fair, the NBA named the Finals MVP Award after Russell for his contributions in 2009.
Still, there’s nothing as grand as having your number retired league-wide.
Jackie Robinson died early at 53. Still, MLB honored Robinson — who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 — in 1997. They retired his number for the entire game. It was the first time it had ever happened in pro sports.
In the NHL, Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 was retired when he hung up his skates in 2000. The NHL didn’t flinch when it came time to honor The Great One.
For sure, the NBA is late to the party. Guess it’s better than being a total no-show.
In addition to retiring the legend’s number, the NBA will honor Russell with a patch. Every team will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve of their jerseys. NBA teams will also honor Russell with a clover-shaped logo featuring the No. 6 on the sideline.
According to Basketball Reference, 23 NBA players wore No. 6 last season, including Lakers star LeBron James. Those players will be grandfathered in and can continue to wear the number until they either decide to change their number or retire.
We saw that in baseball. Yankees’ HOFer Mariano Rivera was the last player to wear 42. He continued to wear the number even after MLB retired it as a tribute to Robinson. When Rivera retired, the No. 42 faded to black.

How amazing would it have been for Russell to see he was getting the same treatment as Robinson? The NBA swung and missed for its Jackie. And that’s a damn shame.

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I agree with the gist of the article, but they should have honored the Tuskeegee airmen and the woman who lied about Emmet Till should have been prosecuted for murder. Jackie Robinson was dead 25 years before they retired his number. Black heroes seldom, if ever, get the accolades they deserve in a timely manner. Bill did live to see the NBA finals trophy named after him. My guess is that he's cackling away in some other dimension, unconcerned about his laurels. Hell, he was reluctant to have the Celtics retire his number. He knew who he was.

Hey Ktron,

I am in that same boat that this should have been done long ago.    

My summer read theme that was focused on the Celtics but two of the three books were Russell's "Go Up For Glory" and "Red and Me" made me reconsider my stance or at least see it in a different light.  

As big of a living legend Russell was, I'm going to speculate that the league respectfully tried several times or at least went to Russell in private first and said we would like to do this for you, the Celtics and the NBA because you've meant so much to the league far beyond anyone else, i.e. we'd like to retire your number league-wide.  Since Bill was so focused and every fiber of his being was TEAM, not ME, he graciously thanked them but rejected them each time (maybe just once and the league got the message this wasn't going to happen in his lifetime).

Bill also noted after these conversation(s), that if this ever got out that they have had this meeting in an effort to pressure him into doing it after graciously  saying no, he'd put it in his will that the NBA was never to retire his number league-wide and he would shun the league until his last breath.  It's just not Bill Russell to accept the league doing this for him.  But Bill also knew his value to the league, the Celtics and civil rights.

And add to that Bill being Bill said he would not mention a word of this meeting(s) to anyone in his lifetime.  After that, you crazy bastards can do whatever you want.  And left it at that. (I'm pretty sure the exact words weren't "crazy bastards) very similar to the Sanders or Jones(s) guarding Bill Bradley Free Throw Story when Bill Russell came over to our guy and posed his question.  Bill Bradley still remembers what Bill Russell said to Sanders/Jones that he intentionally overheard and says it really messed with him because up to that point BB was having a lights out game.  After that, BB's game fell apart.  Anyway, I digress.  Great story though.  (Someone please clean up my facts on this story!)    
 
And as time kept moving on along came Bird, Magic, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq and LeBron and the past kept getting swept further under the rug and the arguments about the NBA G.O.A.T. kept coming up all around us and all the generational argumentative points we bring up ad nauseum here, Russell's greatest faded.  I know. Hard to believe but we've seen it fade right here before our eyes.  

I know, I know.  I can't prove a bit of this fantasy scenario.  But it sounds a like what I read in those two books the way Bill would have reacted to an approach like one of asking you if it is ok to retire your number league-wide.  Respectfully, considerately, honored, but not gonna happen.  

The league just doesn't wake up one morning and say we're going to do this or that.  If the league knew Russell, and I believe they did, they did respectfully approach him and asked first.  Bill could have cared less.  It's just not him.  

Clearly Bill was right.  TEAM is EVERYTHING.  The championships hanging from the rafters are the testament to TEAM.  Individual honors are for those who are desperate for attention.  I'm pretty sure it took a whole lot of approach to get Bill to sign off on the Finals MVP Trophy with his name on it while he was still alive.  I think Bill saw this as a compromise in that it was the Finals trophy.  Maybe the league wore him down!  It least he was giving the Finals MVP to the winner.  Of course the best MVP Trophy was 1969, IMHBAO.  That was Bill Russell.  Jerry, you can have this.  But I'm taking the the real trophy.      

Things will come out now that Bill has passed.  Maybe they won't.  Someone or some people know exactly what has happened.  But out of respect for Bill and what he represented, those have done what he requested on this topic even beyond Bill's death.

I think this is what Bill wanted all along.  For all to recognize it is about TEAM, not ME. Period.  How many times does he have to say it and live it?

Amen.  

db

Does anyone know the full Bill Bradley story?

It was a fitting tribute to Mr. Russell but there is no doubt in my mind that it was late in coming.  He remained a living legacy for a very long time.  Sooner or later you just have to look under the rug and see all the decades of debris that has been swept away but not removed.

dbrown4 wrote:Hey Ktron,

I am in that same boat that this should have been done long ago.    

My summer read theme that was focused on the Celtics but two of the three books were Russell's "Go Up For Glory" and "Red and Me" made me reconsider my stance or at least see it in a different light.  

As big of a living legend Russell was, I'm going to speculate that the league respectfully tried several times or at least went to Russell in private first and said we would like to do this for you, the Celtics and the NBA because you've meant so much to the league far beyond anyone else, i.e. we'd like to retire your number league-wide.  Since Bill was so focused and every fiber of his being was TEAM, not ME, he graciously thanked them but rejected them each time (maybe just once and the league got the message this wasn't going to happen in his lifetime).

Bill also noted after these conversation(s), that if this ever got out that they have had this meeting in an effort to pressure him into doing it after graciously  saying no, he'd put it in his will that the NBA was never to retire his number league-wide and he would shun the league until his last breath.  It's just not Bill Russell to accept the league doing this for him.  But Bill also knew his value to the league, the Celtics and civil rights.

And add to that Bill being Bill said he would not mention a word of this meeting(s) to anyone in his lifetime.  After that, you crazy bastards can do whatever you want.  And left it at that. (I'm pretty sure the exact words weren't "crazy bastards) very similar to the Sanders or Jones(s) guarding Bill Bradley Free Throw Story when Bill Russell came over to our guy and posed his question.  Bill Bradley still remembers what Bill Russell said to Sanders/Jones that he intentionally overheard and says it really messed with him because up to that point BB was having a lights out game.  After that, BB's game fell apart.  Anyway, I digress.  Great story though.  (Someone please clean up my facts on this story!)    
 
And as time kept moving on along came Bird, Magic, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq and LeBron and the past kept getting swept further under the rug and the arguments about the NBA G.O.A.T. kept coming up all around us and all the generational argumentative points we bring up ad nauseum here, Russell's greatest faded.  I know. Hard to believe but we've seen it fade right here before our eyes.  

I know, I know.  I can't prove a bit of this fantasy scenario.  But it sounds a like what I read in those two books the way Bill would have reacted to an approach like one of asking you if it is ok to retire your number league-wide.  Respectfully, considerately, honored, but not gonna happen.  

The league just doesn't wake up one morning and say we're going to do this or that.  If the league knew Russell, and I believe they did, they did respectfully approach him and asked first.  Bill could have cared less.  It's just not him.  

Clearly Bill was right.  TEAM is EVERYTHING.  The championships hanging from the rafters are the testament to TEAM.  Individual honors are for those who are desperate for attention.  I'm pretty sure it took a whole lot of approach to get Bill to sign off on the Finals MVP Trophy with his name on it while he was still alive.  I think Bill saw this as a compromise in that it was the Finals trophy.  Maybe the league wore him down!  It least he was giving the Finals MVP to the winner.  Of course the best MVP Trophy was 1969, IMHBAO.  That was Bill Russell.  Jerry, you can have this.  But I'm taking the the real trophy.      

Things will come out now that Bill has passed.  Maybe they won't.  Someone or some people know exactly what has happened.  But out of respect for Bill and what he represented, those have done what he requested on this topic even beyond Bill's death.

I think this is what Bill wanted all along.  For all to recognize it is about TEAM, not ME. Period.  How many times does he have to say it and live it?

Amen.  

db

Dbrown, Your speculation regarding Bill maybe refusing to sign off on retiring his number is a point well taken.
Its quite possible, as you say that That Bill was indeed always thinking “Team” and not “Me” and would've refused if offered.
At this point we don't know if the league made the offer or not. If they didn't, they certainly should have.
But- You know the old saying. “The answer is always “no” until you ask.

https://www.catronmediagroup.com/

Ktron,

It was just a hunch and a feeling I got after reading those two books and then reading the above. The league had to have done something over all these years, but if they didn't, they should be shot!

Unfortunately, we will probably never know the truth.

db