On this day in Boston Celtics history, iconic Boston big man Bill Russell had his jersey retired in a ceremony at the old Boston Garden in 1972. The ceremony was a small, quiet one, without fanfare or even fans. The Celtics great resisted even having the ceremony due to the conflicted relationship he had with the city.
Having experienced considerable racism from a certain subset of the fanbase over the years, Russell had no interest sharing such a moment with the same people who called him epithets and worse over his time with the Celtics. “He had animosities toward Boston, as most people know,” said Tom Heinsohn, former teammate, and fellow champion via the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.
“And they were well-founded animosities, I might add.”