Sports

The great Bill Russell was a champion in basketball and life

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Bill Russell didn’t just shut up and dribble.

Conversely, he was an outspoken race man. Russell’s towering presence was not singularly defined by his physically imposing 6-foot-10 frame and unparalleled basketball career, but perhaps more so by standing unbowed in advocating for racial and social justice during some of the most turbulent times of the 20th century in the United States.

Russell passed away at the age of 88 on Sunday on Mercer Island, Washington, located in the Seattle metropolitan area, after battling a long illness, his wife Jeannine by his side. In a statement posted on social media by his family, Russell “peacefully” transitioned.

A statement posted by the family on Twitter read: “Bill’s two state championships in high school offered a glimmer of the incomparable run of pure team accomplishment to come: twice an NCAA champion; captain of a gold-medalwinning US Olympic team; 11 times an NBA champion; and at the helm for two NBA championships as the first Black head coach of any North American professional sports team.

“But for all the winning,” it continued, “Bill’s understanding of the struggle is what illuminated his life. From boycotting a 1961 exhibition game to unmask too-long-tolerated discrimination, to leading Mississippi's first integrated basketball camp in the combustible wake of Medgar Evers’ assassination, to decades of activism ultimately recognized by his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo, and with a powerful example that, though never his humble intention, will forever inspire teamwork, selflessness and thoughtful change.

“And we hope each of us can find a new way to act or speak up with Bill’s uncompromis-

ing, dignified and always constructive commitment to principle. That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6.”

Born in racially segregated Monroe, Louisiana on Feb. 12, 1934, Russell moved with his family to Oakland, Calif. when he was eight years old. He was raised in various housing projects in Oakland and experienced early mental and emotional trauma when his mother, Katie, died when

Russell was 12. As the aforementioned Russell family statement illuminated, he evolved into one of the most significant figures in the history of American sports and culture, uplifting the lives of countless men, women and children directly and from afar.

One of those young men inspired during his formative years by Russell is Lem Peterkin, a longtime photo journalist whose expansive work has appeared in many publica-

tions over the past 50, including prominently in the Amsterdam News.

“Mr. William Felton Russell made me feel a Black man could be a Black man when I was growing up in segregated Aberdeen, North Carolina,” said Peterkin by phone to this writer on Tuesday. “He made me feel like I didn’t have to be afraid to speak out or stand up for myself in facing racism in the South.

“I grew a goatee because Mr. Russell wore a goatee,” recalled Peterkin, now 76. “When I first started playing basketball on the team at North Carolina Central University, Coach [Floyd] Brown wanted me to cut off my goatee but I wouldn’t. I explained to him that I wore it because of Mr. Russell and told him why. He let me keep it after that.”

Peterkin would ultimately meet his idol while shooting a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden years after Russell won his final title with the Boston Celtics in 1969, the last of 11 with the storied franchise, in a dramatic seven-game upset over the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers featuring all-time greats Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

“At first I couldn’t stop smiling,” remembered Peterkin. “I wasn’t even thinking about taking his picture. I just wanted to introduce myself and shake his hand. He smiled at me and we talked briefly. I told him how much I looked up to him growing up. Mr. Russell was very nice to me.”

There are numerous anecdotes and recollections similar to Peterkin’s that have been revealed since his death and myriad that will continue to be shared.

May the great Mr. Russell rest in peace as his life’s work will endure for generations to come.

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Boston Celtics great Bill Russell (pictured in a 1957 photo), a legendary social and racial justice activist, passed away this past Sunday at the age of 88 (Photo by John G. Zimmerman for Sports Illustrated, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)