Remembering Bill Russell

recently passed away at eighty eight. As a special bonus episode of our show. Here's that part of Open Floor where we remember and pay tribute to Russell, a man who was an incredible basketball player, but whose legacy extended well beyond the court, to his admirable and important work as an activist fighting for social justice and civil rights. We hope you'll enjoy the discussion from Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. This is a special bonus crossover with

Open Floor about Bill Russell. May he rest in peace. Yeah. Well, God's we have some you know, some sad news to start the show today, obviously on Sunday. Uh, I mean, there's really you can say Celtics legend, it's selling him short. Bill Russell uh dying at age eight on Sunday, um Man man oh man. It's ah, it's kind of just hard to believe that someone like his, his life even existed,

you know, and there's been so many beautiful tributes. Are colleague Chris Mannix writing a column today that his number six should be retired across the league fully in support of that. The thing that strikes me about Bill Russell is that, you know, I joke on this podcast like I don't care about any basketball that happened before blah blah blah, mostly just a dig at the Celtics titles

that that Peanos always talking about. But in all seriousness, I think, like the basketball, when you talk about Bill Russell, the basketball really does come so far down the list, even though he's one of the most accomplished athletes, uh

in the history of sports, especially team sports. But just uh, the issues that he stood for, not only when he was an athlete, I mean someone who stood with Colin Kaepernick for example, these last few years, and just reading the stories about the explicit racism that he dealt with. It's not that these things never happened anymore, but the degree to which they were happening to him, it's just hard to believe that that It's just hard to believe

that it happens. Sometimes it's so far removed from ears and eyes reality. For example. Uh, just truly an incredible person. Yeah. I mean, you and I both on this program and elsewhere, love to delight in making fun of the Boston Celtics. But when Bill Russell, somebody of his stature passes, that goes, you know, like the snarkiness goes out the window, and like you can fully appreciate him and his life as

a person. And to be honest with you, like the preponderance of my thoughts about Bill Russell passing have nothing to do about basketball, right because he was an incredible all time Hall of Famer and you know, obviously before our error, but anybody who's a basketball fan is well acquainted with the type of player that Bill Russell was, how transformative he was. He won eleven championships, he was a twelve time All Star and Olympic gold medalist. I

wasn't thinking about any of that. I was thinking about the activism and the social justice and how he fought for civil rights and was right in the thick of it. I mean, this is a guy who was born in the Deep South in Louisiana, whose parents and family were subject to deeply dehumanizing Jim Crow laws and that shaped his existence, right, I mean throughout the entirety of his life.

This was a man who stood up and spoke out for the things that he knew to be right against uh laws and thought processes that he knew to be wrong. And I just like have such deep respect abiding, uh long living respect for somebody like that. Who you know. Let's when it comes to professional athletes, there are we we've seen it, right, I mean there they live among us now, right, they live comfortable lives. Certainly during Bill

Russell's era they weren't compensated in the same way. But for the whole of sports, existing athletes tend to live more comfortable lives than the rest of society. So you you frequently have people who don't speak out and don't want to say anything about what's happening in the world. Bill Russell was the opposite from the first to the last.

And like, I have against such deep respect for people like that who, at potential expense to them say this is what I think, this is what needs to change, this is what I believe to be right and wrong. And like all to his credit, he's a legend in so many ways, and so so much of it doesn't have anything to do with basketball, absolutely, and there's so

many ways to talk about him. And you know, one thing that really strikes me is, you know, live obviously in a very kind of like charged moment in society, and realizing the ways in which the systemic racism that he fought against, you know, those different ways in which it's manifesting itself now right again, It's it's maybe not as explicit as some of the things that he dealt with. Doesn't mean it it's gone away entirely, but just to

think about again, and I don't want to. It's just tough to think about the fact that there's gonna be so many people who pay tribute to him today who are going to criticize the next round of athletes who take the similar stand that he did. And uh, it just it goes back to his braveness and just how cool he was. And I just think about, like how all the times I was at an All Star weekend or at an event that he was ad or it's just so cool how much he was around the NBA.

You can tell, I don't. I can't think of a single player who does not have just the utmost respect for him and what he means to the game and the influence that he still has on players. It's it's really beautiful, and it's just he's such a larger than life figure to me. I think I've told a story on the podcast before I know it told it to Pine at least. But I remember leaving Charlotte for All Star Weekend once and ahead of me in the security line at the airport was Bill Russell. I was just

so taken aback. I've never ever, ever, ever been that star struck in my entire life. I was like, just as like an American hero. I was like, why are we even making him go through security like this is? I was like, you know, I don't you don't want to Like, I was like, do I shake his hand? Do I say something? I don't want to bother this guy. Um, it's just such a larger than life figure that. Yeah. I know it sounds silly, but I sometimes I can't

believe he's real. I know, I keep saying that. But when you see all the stories about, oh, when his house was vandalized, when the Celtics would go on road trips, or the fact that you know that that exhibition strike that he led in Kentucky, It's like things like that are just they're so far removed, um, kind of from what we're dealing with today. It's it's crazy, man, So a long time ago, I'm older than you, A long time ago, and you look, it's it's all it's really

just lighting and special effects. But a long time ago, when I was first coming up, I was a senior writer for Boston Magazine and I had the great fortune to speak with Bill Russell. You mentioned, you know, when his house was vandalized, when the Celtics would go on the road. That was something that a lot of the Celtics, a lot of the black players had to deal with.

I talk to Casey Jones about it one time, and I had the I had the great fortune of speaking with Bill Russell just about life in Boston as a black man, and like, he was so great about it and so thoughtful, and he said, you know, I think about myself first as a human being and as an activist and as an athlete. Second, but the symbolism of

how he handled things in that city. I mean, like all the all the accomplishments we talked about with him in the Celtics, I think his greatest accomplishment and what really meant so much, um not just to the black community, but sports were at large. He was the first black head coach of anyone of any of the four major

sports in America. And he did it in Boston. And for people who don't really understand, Boston has a let's call it fraught history with race relations that they were famously the Boston Red Sox were famously the last team

to integrate in Major League Baseball. And then you have Bill Russell, who's this transformative figure who despite the fact that his house was vandalized, was still a beloved figure in Boston and who loved Boston back right and um didn't stop fighting for the things that he knew to be right, didn't excuse the racism that was um prevalent in Boston, the undertones of it, sometimes the overtones of it,

and yet was this unifying figure. And like the way that he bridged that gap, I don't think I would have had that grace. Right. I don't think that if I was somebody who was in his position and came home and found my house vandalized or heard slurs on the street, that I could turn the other cheek and go, no, you know, I'm gonna keep fighting for these things. But also I can see the good in people who aren't

like that. But that was Bill Russell. And like when he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, he said, I hope that this is an indication that I led a good life. And man did he. That's really well, said John, And and you nailed it. I mean, yeah, you and I are not gonna be able to unpack kind of fully that era of American society and the

race relations in Boston. And and I think you bring up a good point, like he did love the city, and there are black people in Boston who loved him, and it's there's so many layers to that situation and it was so complicated, but you mentioned just the kind of the you know, I would I also don't blame the people who don't have grace, but just kind of the integrity, which was he dealt with everything that came

his way in his life is. It's really beautiful. And I do want to talk about him as a basketball player for a second, only in since that. I just love how much of a competitor he was um Like, you you know, just even forget the championships and all those things, Like we always hear these stories about you know, Michael Jordan's or et cetera, these people who are kind of these legendary competitors, and I think you can put him in that category. I mean, there's that clip that

you know a lot of people have shared. I remember watching it when it happened. But he's on stage like the NBA Awards with all the other centers and he's pointing at all of them. He's like, I would kick your ass. Like that's awesome, you know, just that competitive spirit that he had. And there's a clip that I saw again, a lot of people have been posting this. I think he's talking to Kobe Bryant in an All

Star game. He's like, I like to watch players. He's like, the way I like to watch basketball is I want to see what agenda players have when they're on the court, and then what they're doing to try to fulfill that. You know, paraphrasing, And I think that's just such an insight into he wants to see people compete, right, that's he wants to know what their agenda is. Is it

to win? Is it to compete? And again, when you talk about his legacy as a basketball player, it goes so much more than the rings he won, but his approach to the game and you know, wanting to be better than will um Man. They I just don't know that we have a figure like that anymore, you know what I mean. Yeah, they had some epic battles. For sure, they pushed each other. I think they made each other better.

That competition, that level of effort that you're talking about on the court, and again, for me, oh that's great, but like what he did off the court like just is everything for me. But that that level of effort that he gave in his life, it had to be exhausting, Like like think about how good he was as a

basketball player. That alone takes supreme drive, focus, determination. Um just like like knowing that you have to do it season in and season out, and then on top of that off the court, you know, there's no rest for him. There was never any rest for him up till he was eighty eight. He was just still going. He was just incredibly dynamic and dynamic. And I want to bring it back to that Medal of Freedom thing too, because

he didn't he didn't ever like tune out. Right. He posted a picture kneeling with that Medal of Freedom around his neck in solidarity with the NFL players who have been attacked and criticized by presid then President Trump, And I'm like, this guy doesn't take any time off. He's he's an octogenarian and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm not

gonna let this moment pass. He could, like, of all the people on the planet who could afford to let a pitch go by because of all the good will and effort that they had accrued, right, all the equity that they had put in, it would be Bill Russell. And he's like, nah, not taking this moment off, Like, that's Bill Russell. That's such a great point. Yeah, the that it's such a good point. The effort, man, it has to be exhausting, all the things that he dealt with.

And I'll just never know how someone is able to lead a life like that. And you mentioned, yeah, kneeling with the that metal like, that's truly truly iconic. People use that phrase like freely now jokingly. Now, that's that's truly iconic. And yeah, like you said, never let a pitch go by taking that stand again when you when people were being criticized by literally the president. Um again, it's just integrity, That's what that is. That always being

on the right side of history. It's really remarkable. Um Or do you think that he got his I mean, because obviously you know he's being fedted today. Everybody's remembering him. He is one of the grades of all time and is remembered that way. But do you think that he got his full Dude, like the people properly remember Bill Russell and his legacy. Because in today's So, we have an s I Now newsletter. It's written by Josh rosen Blad. I highly recommend everybody subscribe to it. It's really good

every day. He's got some really fresh stuff in there. But so he unearthed the story from Frank DeFord, a legendary SI writer, and he has a quote in it from Tommy Heinsen, who's also a Celtics legend, long time Celtics collar play by play guy. Here's the quote. I want to read it to you, and I think this frames it out. And this doesn't even get into the social justice, civil rights activism. This is just the basketball component.

Tommy Hansen quote. Look, all I know is the guy won two n C Double A Championships, fifties something college games in a row, the fifties six Olympics. Then he came to Boston and won eleven championships in thirteen years, and they named an effing tunnel after Ted Williams. Yeah, I saw that. Excellent point. Yeah, Um, I think that probably like contemporarily, I don't know that he necessarily got

in no respect. I do think later in his career, like I think what the NBA did, like naming the finals MVP Trophy after him, like a small but great gesture. I loved seeing him at the finals every year. I think they did a great job bringing him. Like I said to All Star year, I do think that at least within the NBA community the last at least as long as I've been covering the NBA, there's been so much respect for him, and you can see it with

the players. Um and again, I think his willingness to kind of continue to take stands has really endeared him to players as well. Uh that it's tough. I mean, how do you kind of how do you properly pay tribute to someone like him? Right? Like it would take it would take so many lifetimes for most other people to fit what he did in one that I don't know how you could even like properly really pay tribute

to him. But I do think at the very least like the respect and support I've seen from the NBA community for him, at least since I've been covering the league at least that I think is matched what he deserves. But I'm with you, I mean, like, how do you where do you stop? With him? Like? Truly a transformational figure and a leader in so many different ways. What a life? I mean, honestly what a life like? He?

Can I throw out one more thing? Please? He managed to do something in addition to all of this other stuff that I thought was impossible, which is making me think fondly of a Boston Celtic, Like, right, I mean, like the guy's just like he's just transformative and like what a life lived. And the league, not just the league, but the country. You called him an American hero. That's exactly right. I mean during the civil rights movement when he again he just didn't take a moment off. Uh,

and every moment after that. For him to stand up for equality and civil rights is just Um. If that is the defining legacy, and if he had done nothing else, it would have been an incredible life, and he did so much more. No, we're honestly the way we're just we're lucky to have shared time with him. You know what I mean is the way I look at it. Uh. You know, we could talk about Bill russ all day. There's many great tributes like please read that Frank to

Ford's story, read the Christmannick story. But whatever you can read about Bill Russell his memoir are are good. Buddy. Michael Pena, back when he was writing for g Q, wrote a piece about Bill Russell's memoir which is harrowing in moments, but just so informational and educational sony ways. Highly recommend people. I believe it's called second Win. Um, highly recommend people read that. Um. Yeah, man, like you said, what a life. I think that's the best way to

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