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Bill Russell, left, celebrates with Celtics coach Red Auerbach after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers to win their eighth-straight NBA Championship, in Boston, April 29, 1966. (Getty)
BILL RUSSELL

Bill Russell’s legacy of NBA championships and cerebral fight for equal rights

Russell was the NBA’s essential barrier-breaker: its first Black superstar, its first Black champion, its first Black coach.

  • Aram Goudsouzian
6 min read
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 26: A general view of the court after the postponed game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 26, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The NBA announced the postponement of today’s games in response to the Milwaukee Bucks boycotting their game in protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police. (Kim Klement – Pool/Getty Images)
ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI
Video

More than a game: NBA players in wildcat strike to protest racial injustice

In 1961, Bill Russell led his fellow Boston Celtics in refusing to play in an NBA game in protest of systemic racism. It happened again on Wednesday.

  • Refiloe Seiboko
6 min read