Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Says Late NBA Legend Bill Russell “Leaves A Giant Example For Us All”

Six-Time NBA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Tribute Bill Russell

Six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has paid a compliment to the late Bill Russell, his mentor, and friend, who he said leaves a giant for us all.

Russell, an 11-time NBA champion Russell with the Boston Celtics and the league's first Black head coach, died at age 88.

He was a prominent civil rights activist, marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr. during the He Have a Dream speech in 1963, accusing racial segregation and supporting Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted in the Vietnam War.

He became a role model when he realized some things that scared me and bothered me about relations in America were what he declared Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's top all-time scorer, by Don Lemon.

He gave me a path to speak about it that had all of trying to make something better rather than just being angry.

He helped me define that in my life and make choices that were better suited to getting positive change rather than just expressing my anger. He was the exact person whose guidance should be followed in that area.

Abdul-Jabbar First Met Bill Russell

Abdul-Jabbar initially met Russell, aged 14, as a freshman at Power Memorial High School in New York City. The pair formed a 60-year friendship, which Russell inspired Abdul-Jabbar as both a player and an activist.

In the late 1950s, Russell, a largely-White NBA, purposely excluded Black players while being part of the league's first all-Black starting line-up in 1964.

Despite his supremacy on the court, Russell was also subjected to racist taunts as a player, while his family endured threats, break-ins, and vandalism.

He ambitious me to be a better man by handling situations without giving in to all the anger and rage he must have felt, said Abdul-Jabbar.

He handled that in a way that shamed the people who had tried to tell him to find the door and leave the Celtics. He kept winning, and the Celtics kept winning. And they kept doing it with several Black athletes.

The former Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers star added that Russell was a banner holder for pride for Black athletes, who never made us feel ashamed or not feel proud.

Russell’s Championship And Titles

Russell's 11 championship victories with the Celtics, including eight straight titles between 1959 and 1966; he was named NBA MVP five times and an NBA All-Star 12 times, including during his final two years as a player-coach of the Celtics in 1968 and 1969.

The vandalism that Bill experienced was just an expression of the anger of people who felt that he should not be allowed to be as successful as he was as an athlete, said, Abdul-Jabbar.

They resented his success and wanted to show him that he had a place in society they did not respect and would put him in his place.

But Bill was bigger than that, and Bill just kept his chin up and kept moving forward. The Celtics kept winning world championships, and Bill showed the world what class was all about.