Honoring Mr. Russell

The thing the NBA got most right is the league wide retirement of Mr. Bill Russell's jersey number. There are so many ways to honor a player. You can name awards after them, hang their jersey in the rafters, even name trophies after them. Aside from naming the championship trophy after a player, the only other way to show the player's impact on the whole league is to retire their number league wide.

Very few are worthy of such an incredible honor. You can't just be very talented or a leader of the best teams. You also have to have character. You have to have carried the league to a new level. You have to embody what the league represents on and off the court.

Its easy to recite the accomplishments of Mr. Russell and use that as the reasoning for the retirement of his number. That's also lazy and dismissive to all that he provided. Yes, the 11 titles are a feat that will probably never be matched but the way he won them is what makes it just as special. There are so many ways to describe his importance, though I will just talk about a few.

Mr. Russell legitimized the NBA. Prior to him, the league was considered a white man's game. No, he wasn't the first African American to play in the NBA but he was one of the early members of that group. Helping integrate the league was only part of the process. The other part of it is the way he played. When people think about Wilt Chamberlain, they look at him as a freak of nature. He's seen as someone that athletically was head and shoulders above everyone else. When those same people look at Bill Russell, they saw him as the hardest worker on the floor. Even though he was as athletic as they come, he showed the work on the court and the effort it took to win. It didn't look too easy to get that many rebounds. It didn't look too easy to score the points and it definitely didn't look too easy to go get all the blocks. In America, we reward and consider credible anytime hard work leads to achievements.

The next way he legitimized the league was with his demand and command respect. On the court he didn't let the game become a gimmick. He didn't use fancy moves or try to upstage his opponents. It was all about getting in and doing the job. Although, the game was for the fans he didn't play the game only to entertain. Mr. Russell didn't make it look like a Harlem Globetrotters game. It made everyone feel that the game was being played the right way. Off the court, it was understood that you had to speak to him in a respectable way. You knew there were certain things he didn't joke about. He carried himself with strength and dignity. Knowing that he was considered one of the faces of the NBA, his off court life was one that exemplified what the NBA wanted to be. The NBA wanted to be seen as strong and a representative of its fans. Mr. Russell didn't "cause trouble" and didn't embarrass the league in any way.

It is only fitting that someone who has embodied the league's identity and helped move it forward, be rewarded with such a monumental achievement. Helping the league remain integrated, showing that hard work leads to success, and being respected is all necessary for legitimizing the NBA to all people. Fortunately, we were able to find all of that in one person and player, Mr. Bill Russell.