He is the main reason why we are not completely dominating the historical championship, yet I'm sad because of his passing and he has my utmost respect as a player and as a person. He was a C bag and will pretty much forever be the face of our historical rival, but he's the kind of guy that even as the biggest victims of his absolutely amazing career, the only thing that guy can get from me is respect, and while he was alive, he also showed plenty respect to our franchise and our legends, especially Kobe. He will be missed, but at least I'm happy he lived a nice 88 years life.
universally revered (except for some awful racists) on and off the court. can't think of a better legacy.
I'm making an "only for this man" exception and moving this to Laker's Discussion so more posters will see it.
As a young kid, Bill Russell was one of my three favorite players (Jerry West, Wilt, and Russell) even though he played for the C Bags who always beat my Lakers in the Finals. The NBA wasn't on TV as much as it is today, but I watched every C bag game I could so I could watch him. And every day during the season I checked his stats in the Sports section of the newspaper. It was amazing how he could dominate a game by playing defense and rebounding the ball. It was years later that I learned about the other stuff. The intense racism he endured in Boston. Him being the closest the NBA ever had to a Jackie Robinson type culture changer. First black star in the league, first black coach in the league. The greatest champion the league will ever have. No one is ever going to get close to his ring total. Then the way he adopted Kobe and helped reshape Kobe's perspective being a contributing factor in Kobe's last two rings. Nothing but respect.
He once told West at his jersey retirement ceremony that if he had one wish it would be for The Logo to be happy. He also flipped off Barkley on National TV. Gold!
Amazing accomplishments and a great human being. I’ve studied a lot on leadership and loved his views on putting people into positions to succeed and the sacrifice of the individual for the overall greater good of a team. Rest In Peace to the homie!
