Bill Russell, the legendary NBA star who died Sunday at age 88, loved to play golf and to meet other celebrity golfers – including games with Michael Jordan. He was a frequent participant in charity golf events and various pro-ams, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
Russell’s death was announced on his Twitter account, saying he “passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side.” He was the star of the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1950s and ’60s, and he later became a voice of social justice as well as taking up golf.
At an agile 6-foot-9, the Hall-of-Famer was a late-comer to golf. Russell told Golf Channel in 2014 that he received a set of golf clubs as a gift at an NBA All-Star Game but didn’t break them out of his garage for years. They sat for so long, the natural left-hander didn’t even realize the gifted clubs were righties.
Check out these photos of Russell on the course and around the game of golf.