Grant Williams paid respect to Bill Russell at halftime Sunday

Grant Williams made a point of meeting with Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell at halftime of the Celtics’ Sunday loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston Celtics rookie forward Grant Williams sought out legendary Boston big man Bill Russell Sunday afternoon, and not for an autograph.

The Celtic luminary is known for turning down such requests, but the Tennessee product wasn’t after memorabilia.

Williams wanted to thank Russell for all the ways he transformed the game, a topic rarely acknowledged these days, and certainly less so by players from William’s generation.

The former Celtic’s dominance of the game was so impactful, his style of play forced the NCAA to widen the lane before he even set foot in the NBA, according to Complex’s Jose Martinez.

Russell’s then-unorthodox approach to defense helped transform the physicality of the sport into something much more closely resembling the modern game than how it was played in the era before he began playing.

“I just wanted to thank him for everything he’s done for the game,” Williams explained via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm.

“I said I was thankful, because he was so impactful. He was a dude who was one of the best players in the game, a historic Boston legend, and honestly it was just good to see him in person for the first time. You see all the celebrities in LA and all this stuff, but I was more focused on Bill Russell than anybody else.”

“Denzel [Washington] was there, all those other guys, but Bill was special,” added the former Volunteer.

Bill’s presence itself caused more than a few double-takes at the tilt between his former team and the Los Angeles Lakers when he showed up wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, in honor of his fallen friend and Lakers luminary Kobe Bryant.

Surprised by the attention it caused, the 11-time champion would later tweet, “I see everyone tweeting I am wearing [a] Lakers jersey … I would do anything to honor Kobe and Gianna.”

Williams was ebullient to have met the Celtics icon, particularly given the context of it happening at a match against Boston’s oldest rival.

“It was really cool, especially a game of that magnitude and intensity. Lakers vs. Celtics, something that one of the biggest rivalries in sports and playing against LeBron, it was fun. It was a competitive environment,” he offered.

“Hopefully he enjoyed it,” added Williams.

While Russell didn’t stay to the end, his former team played fairly well against the franchise with the league’s second-best record given they were down starting point guard Kemba Walker, who was resting a swollen knee.

Russell did stay long enough to see All-Star third year forward Jayson Tatum explode in the second and third quarters, and it’s hard to imagine anyone — save perhaps Laker fans — who didn’t enjoy that.

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