Perhaps the best player in Boston Celtics history, the legendary Bill Russell has finally accepted his Hall of Fame honor.
44 years later, it was finally time.
It might never have happened. People leave the mortal coil younger than Bill Russell’s 85 years quite often — statistically speaking, more often than not — given average life expectancy in the United States is nearly a decade shorter.
But the world has caught up to the former Boston Celtics’ star (and coach) and his way of seeing things, allowing those among us who value his on-court work as much as we appreciate what he did off it.
I am of course speaking of news that Russell has relented and — over four decades later — accepted the ring proffered for his induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame so many years ago, the not-young author of this article wasn’t even a twinkle in his father’s eye.
At the time, the rejection caused confusion, even consternation. All the legendary big man said was, “For my own personal reasons, which I don’t want to discuss, I don’t want to be a part of it. [I’]m not going. They know that. I’ve felt this way for many years (via the New York Times).”
The cryptic message seemed at best off-putting. Who would turn down such an honor? What could possibly motivate one of the greatest to play the game to reject one of its greatest honors?
This very question came even from the lips of friend and longtime boss, Celtics then- president Red Auerbach.
“Yes, I’m a little disappointed,” he offered. “It’s the biggest honor you can get in the National Basketball Association, and besides, how many other people have been nominated for the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility?”
Even now, a near-lifetime later, that’s a rare honor.
However, to his credit, Auerbach was still supportive of Russell’s choice. “[H]e’s his own man. Let him do what he wants.”
At the time, there were rumors the Louisianian’s decision was tied to Russell’s feeling that the Hall was discriminatory (which turned out to be true), a position unsurprisingly rejected by his peers at the time. Missing the point, then-executive director of the Hall of Fame Lee Williams said, “If that’s so, then he [Russell] is wrong.”
“We have the original Rens in our honors court. They were elected in 1961 and consist of seven black players. Also, Robert O. Douglas, owner and manager of the Rens, is in the Hall of Fame,” added the director.
Sweetwater Clifton, Chuck Cooper and Earl Lloyd all came before Russell and, while not perhaps on the level of the 11-time champion, few were of any race or creed. They pioneered the simple act of existing in the sport as a person of color that made the big man’s prodigious contributions even possible.
Moreover, the league (and sport) was littered with comparatively mediocre players from earlier decades who got in by virtue of being there in the early days of the sport in the first place as much their modest stat lines did. How was this not at least on par with such a scenario?
While many in the press and bleachers alike pretended to not understand what Russell was too classy to rub in their faces, it helped push Russell away from the sport, departing from the NBA in a coaching capacity until a short return in the late 1980s to head the Sacramento Kings.
Fast-forward to the present and, after a long-overdue induction of Chuck Cooper, longtime civil rights activist Russell has finally accepted an honor bestowed on him many years in a past in some ways still closer than some would like to believe.
No fanfare, no speeches, no media events — just closure. For those able to read between the lines, everything is as clear as it ever was.
Congratulations, Russ!
