Jalopnik’s Max Finkel had an itch.
He wanted to know which Lamborghini Boston Celtics legendary big man Bill Russell drove in the late 1960s and 1970s, and asked as much on Twitter.
The very same ultra- high-end sports car Russell was once pulled over for driving while Black, in which his daughter Karen Russell made note of in a New York Times article recounting how prejudice was a constant companion for Russell in his time with the Celtics.
“In my father’s 1979 memoir, ”Second Wind,” he tells of being pulled over by the police in Los Angeles, again for no apparent reason, while driving a Lamborghini,” noted Russell. “When he asked what the problem was, the policeman told him a radio alert had gone out for a car of the make he was driving. ”What kind of car is it?” my father asked. The policeman couldn’t say.”
“Unfortunately for him, Lamborghini isn’t spelled out on the hood,” she added.
THAT Lamborghini.
.@Lamborghini 400GT. If the seat was all the way back I could not touch the pedals. I used to race Wilt in his @Maserati_HQ Ghibli. Don’t ask who won, you know the answer https://t.co/3nCVQfUFeE
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) July 7, 2020
So imagine Finkel’s surprise when his subtweet was not only noticed by but responded to by the 11-time champion himself.
“Lamborghini 400GT,” replied the greatest winner in the history of the NBA.
“If the seat was all the way back I could not touch the pedals. I used to race Wilt [Chamberlain] in his Maserati HQ Ghibli,” he added. While the pair were publicly the most intense of rivals over their respective careers in the league, they were also the closest of friends off the court.
“Did I mention we raced across country?” he asked Finkel.
Even after all these years, the ultimate winner couldn’t resist a dig at his old friend, though.
“Don’t ask who won, you know the answer.”
[lawrence-related id=37414,37079,37051,36897]