Bill Russell, 11-time NBA champion, dies at 88

Former basketball player Bill Russell, 88, the most successful athlete in NBA history, died on Sunday (31). His death was announced through an announcement posted by his family on Twitter.

Russell is one of the greatest idols in Boston Celtics history. In 13 seasons played for the club, he reached 12 NBA Finals and won 11. Eight of those wins were consecutive, between 1959 and 1966. He has never played for another NBA franchise.

Russell was also named the NBA’s MVP (Most Valuable Player) — the tournament’s best player award — five times.

After his retirement, he became the first black man to lead a professional basketball team in US history. He coached the Boston Celtics himself, the Seattle Supersonics and the Sacramento Kings.

According to his family’s statement, Russell died peacefully, alongside his wife, Jeaninne.

Russell was also an activist. In 1961, while he was still playing, he even boycotted a match to protest “discrimination tolerated too long.” In 2010, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Obama even mourned this Sunday, on Twitter, the death of Russell. Among other things, he claimed that Bill, on the court, was the greatest champion in basketball history and that, off the court, he was a pioneer in the fight for civil rights, citing his support for Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali.

When Donald Trump in 2017 criticized football players kneeling before a match in protest, Russell posted a photo of himself kneeling, holding a medal.

The NBA also spoke out about the former athlete’s death. Adam Silver, commissioner of the association, said, also in a statement posted on Twitter, that Bill “represented something much bigger than sports: the values ​​of equality, respect and inclusion that he imprinted in the DNA of our league”, as well as saying that Bill’s influence will be felt forever.