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NBA legend and civil rights activist Bill Russell’s number 6 jersey to be retired league-wide

US basketball legend Bill Russell’s number 6 jersey is being retired across the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association made the announcement on Thursday, permanently retiring the number worn by the 11-time champion and civil rights activist, who was good enough to have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

Russell is the first player to have his number retired league-wide.

The Boston Celtics star died at age 88 on July 31.

“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

“Permanently retiring his number 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognised.”

Players who currently wear number 6 — including the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James — may continue doing so.

But the number cannot be issued again, the league said.

Bill Russell standing in a gray suit at an NBA game
Bill Russell was the most prolific winner in the NBA’s history. (AP Photo: Michael Dwyer)

All NBA players will wear a patch on the right shoulder of their jerseys this season, the league said, and every NBA court will display a clover-shaped logo with the number 6 on the sideline near the scorer’s table.

The Celtics have “separate and unique recognition for him on their uniforms” planned, the NBA said.

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Sports

Lauren Jackson picked for Opals squad ahead of FIBA ​​Women’s Basketball World Cup

Lauren Jackson’s stunning return back to international basketball has continued after officially being picked in the Opals squad for the FIBA ​​world cup, which starts in Sydney on September 22.

Jackson, 41, was announced as part of a 12-strong squad, marking the veteran’s fifth world cup appearance, the last of which was in 2010.

“There were a lot of emotions when [coach] sandy [Brondello] rang me,” Jackson said.

“I had a bit of a cry to be honest.

“I have been working my body hard, and I didn’t honestly know if it was going to hold up to my intense training regimen, but it has and I’m feeling good.

“The whole team have been so welcoming and made me feel at home. The age difference disappears as soon as I step onto the court.

“I believe in this team and what we can achieve. If I can play a part in getting us onto the podium, then the hard work is all worthwhile.”

Jackson announced her competitive basketball comeback in February this year after joining the Albury Wodonga Bandits, and was then picked up in the extended Opals squad in June.

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In December 2021, Jackson told ABC Sport she had been using medicinal cannabis to overcome a battle with prescription painkillers after years of injury.

“I’ve been open about my battle with prescription medication during my career, and when I retired I went off everything because I wanted to raise my kids and just be the very best version of myself,” she said.

“[Medicinal cannabis] helped me a lot and has gotten me to the point where I’m able to train again and live a very active lifestyle with my two little boys.”

Brondello said Jackson had put in the work to be included in the squad.

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US

Brittney Griner to face “serious” health threats in Russian prison

Trevor Reed, an American citizen recently freed from a Russian prison, told CNN that WNBA star Brittney Griner will experience “serious threats” to her health if she is sent to a labor camp.

driving the news: “Anyone who is in a forced labor camp in Russia is obviously, you know, facing serious threats to their health because of malnutrition,” he told CNN in an interview. “There’s little to no medical attention whatsoever.”

  • Reed said the disease tuberculosis “runs rampant in Russian prisons” and there are “diseases that they have there in Russia which are largely extinct in the United States now.”

Flash back: Reed, a Marine veteran who was freed through a prisoner exchange earlier this year, was held in a Russian prison for 985 days after being accused of assaulting a Russian law enforcement official, USA Today reports.

  • Reed was sentenced to nine years in a labor camp and developed health issues during his time there, including multiple cases of COVID-19. He previously described conditions at labor camps as “medieval,” per USA Today.

The big pictures: Griner was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court last week and sentenced to nine years in prison, Axios’ Ivana Saric reports.

  • The sentence comes almost six months after she was arrested at a Russian airport when authorities said they found a vape cartridge with hash oil in her luggage.

What’s next: Griner may appeal the decision, which means she’ll stay at a detention facility until it is completed, Reed told CNN. Otherwise, she will likely be sent to a labor camp.

  • But Russia may leave her in Moscow if a prisoner exchange is on the table, he added.
  • Reed said Griner’s case “sentence is clearly political. There’s no denying that.”

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US

Brittney Griner trial: Verdict expected Thursday

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — An emotional Brittney Griner apologized in a Russian court Thursday as her drug possession trial drew to a close Thursday, and a prosecutor urged that the American basketball star be convicted and sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in a case that reached the highest levels of US-Russia diplomacy.

With a judge set to issue an unusually swift verdict later in the day and a conviction all but certain, Griner made a final appeal to the court. She said she had no intention to break the law by bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil when she flew to Moscow in February to play basketball in the city of Yekaterinburg.

“I want to apologize to my teammates, my club, my fans and the city of (Yekaterinburg) for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them,” Griner said, her voice cracking. “I want to also apologize to my parents, my siblings, the Phoenix Mercury organization back at home, the amazing women of the WNBA, and my amazing spouse back at home.”

Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. but judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.

If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap, which was proposed last week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to his Russian counterpart.

She said she made “an honest mistake,” adding: “hope in your ruling it does not end my life.”

Griner said Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Ural Mountains, had become her “second home.”

“I had no idea that the team, the cities, the fans, my teammates would make such a great impression on me over the six and a half years that I spent here,” she said. “I remember vividly coming out of the gym and all the little girls that were in the stands there waiting on me, and that’s what kept making me come back here.”

Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist have pursued strategies to bolster Griner’s contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented character witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for in the WNBA offseason and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment.

Griner lawyer Maria Blagovolina argued that Griner brought the cartridges with her to Russia inadvertently and only used cannabis to treat her pain from injuries sustained in her career. She said she used it only in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.

She emphasized that Griner was packing in haste after a grueling flight and suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Blagovolina also pointed out that the analysis of cannabis found in Griner’s possession was flawed and violated legal procedures.

Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in “the development of Russian basketball.”

Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, also emphasized Griner’s role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates.

He told the judge that a conviction would undermine Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to depoliticize sports sound shallow.

Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be OK!” when she went on walks at the jail.

Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,700) in addition to the prison sentence.

If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap.

Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.

Then last week, in an extraordinary moveBlinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.

The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach over Griner is at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.

People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.

Russian officials have scoffed at US statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”

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US

Russian prosecutors seek 9 1/2-year sentence for Griner

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — Prosecutors asked a Russian court Thursday to convict American basketball star Brittney Griner and sentence her to 9 1/2 years in prison at closing arguments in her drug possession trial.

The trial neared its end nearly six months after Griner’s arrest at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of US-Russia diplomacy, with Washington proposing a prisoner exchange. Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Although a conviction is all but certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Griner have admitted to having vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.

Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist have pursued strategies to bolster Griner’s contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented character witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for in the WNBA offseason and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment.

Griner lawyer Maria Blagovolina argued that Griner brought the cartridges with her to Russia inadvertently and only used cannabis to treat her pain from injuries sustained in her career. She said she used it only in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.

She emphasized that Griner was packing in haste after a grueling flight and suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Blagovolina also pointed out that the analysis of cannabis found in Griner’s possession was flawed and violated legal procedures.

Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in “the development of Russian basketball.”

Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, also emphasized Griner’s role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates.

He told the judge that a conviction would undermine Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to depoliticize sports sound shallow.

Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be OK!” when she went on walks at the jail.

Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,700) in addition to the prison sentence.

It’s not clear when the verdict will be announced. If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap.

Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.

Then last week, in an extraordinary moveUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.

The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach over Griner is at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.

People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.

Russian officials have scoffed at US statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”

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Sports

England defeat Australia 17-16 in men’s 3×3 basketball while wheelchair teams bring home gold and bronze

Breathless. Absolutely breathless.

That’s how everyone was left feeling after one of the best advertisements you could see for 3×3 basketball.

It was the type of finish that keeps your heart racing long after the full-time siren has gone.

England’s men rode an incredible wave of home crowd support to beat Australia in overtime, 17-16.

Australia’s men claim wheelchair basketball gold

The four gold medal matches played out in fast and furious fashion at Smithfield, and Australia’s 3×3 men’s wheelchair basketball team started off with a tense match against Canada.

Lachlin Dalton and Jake Kavanagh of Australia celebrate.  Both are pictured in their wheelchairs, Dalton with his arms in the air
Lachlin Dalton (left) was again on form to help Australia to an 11-9 win.(Getty Images: Justin Setterfield)

A day after shooting a two-pointer in overtime to beat England in the semis, youngster Lachlin Dalton was again on form to help the Australians to an 11-9 win.

“It’s been a bit surreal coming out playing well for the country and just to help be part of a gold medal, the first of its kind, there’s just something special,” Dalton said.

“To come out and play like we did, have the camaraderie that we did all week, it’s definitely been my favorite week away.”

‘I am Birmingham’: Local hero leads physical fight

In the men’s decider, it was a street ball shootout of the highest quality.

After an intense, physical showdown, where both sides racked up the fouls, it went to overtime where the first team to score two points would win.

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After Australia scored first, Birmingham’s own Myles Hesson got himself in two-point range, and swoosh, the capacity crowd exploded.

“I have played basketball in every corner of Birmingham,” Hesson said.

“This is where I used to catch the bus, just here. This is where I went to the markets with my gran. I am from Birmingham. I am Birmingham.”

“I don’t know how they all got tickets, but there are a lot of people in this stadium rooting for me. I could hear every last one of them.”

Australia’s Greg Hire, meanwhile, said he was proud of the way the Australian team had fought out the match.

“To go down in a game winning shot to a super talented side in front of the home crowd, I’m immensely proud,” Hire said.

“But [it’s a] pretty tough feeling right now.”

“It’s just a privilege to play in front of a crowd like that,” Jesse Wagstaff added.

“Birmingham’s done a great job of putting on a fantastic show.”

Hire played the match with a torn groin and was the ultimate street-fighter, scrapping and jostling, and attracting plenty of attention from the referees — Australia ended up with 11 team fouls and England nine.

Greg Hire appeals to the umpire after landing on Jaydon Kayne Henry-Mccalla of England
Greg Hire says he will retire from international competition, and wants to see more investment in 3×3 basketball. (AAP Photos: Darren England)

“That’s the reason why we love it right? It’s not traditional five and five, and it’s tough,” Hire said.

“Obviously the refs swallowed their whistle towards the end of the game, which is a shame, but that’s the style, that’s 3×3 basketball. I think that’s why it’s a sport that as you can see, everyone loves.”

After making its debut at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Hire, one of Australia’s most experienced players in the short format, says he’s retiring from international competition, and wants to see more investment in it.

“We don’t get paid to play 3×3, we don’t get per diem like the Boomers. You’re doing for the love of the game and for the love of the country,” he said.

“What we’re seeing is the first step. In the past, and don’t disrespect the players that played before us, but it’s guys that specialize in 3×3.

“We need to put some respect, raise the profile. Hopefully those NBL guys that aren’t in the Boomers will play for us.”

Women’s teams win minor medals

The women’s wheelchair team couldn’t bring its best against Canada, going down 14-5.

Georgia Inglis of Australia tries to block a shot from Elodie Tessier of Canada in the wheelchair basketball
Australia’s women beat New Zealand 15-13 to win the wheelchair bronze.(Getty Images: Justin Setterfield)

“A silver medal is a bit bittersweet, but I’m so proud of our girls,” Australia’s Ella Sabljak said.

“We’ve come from literally nothing, we’ve had no expectations, and that was probably our worst game we played the entire tournament, so I know we’re better than that.”

Australia’s women beat New Zealand 15-13 to win the bronze medal, and Canada’s women downed England 14-13 to claim gold.

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Sports

Watch Lachlin Dalton’s epic overtime winner to reach 3×3 wheelchair basketball gold-medal match at Commonwealth Games

An Australian wheelchair basketball young gun has shown his class after a stunning overtime winner sent the Wombats through to the Commonwealth Games gold-medal match and broke English hearts.

Locked at 10-all after regulation time, Australia fell behind early in the extra frame before Lachlin Dalton’s stunning two-pointer sealed a 12-11 victory.

Watch the incredible moment in the video above

Stream Seven’s coverage of the Commonwealth Games 2022 for free on 7plus >>

England had the first crack in overtime but Charlie McIntyre’s pass was stolen by Dalton, who immediately returned the favor and had a pass intercepted by his rival.

McIntyre threw it inside for an assist to Lee Manning, putting the hosts up 11-10, but England’s hopes would be dashed by Dalton in the most dramatic circumstances just seconds later.

Spotting an opening as Abderrahim Taghrest scrambled to the two-point arc, Dalton threw out a Hail Mary – and it never looked like missing.

The shot sent Australia through to the final against Canada, while England will face Malaysia to decide the bronze medal.

Lachlin Dalton knew his shot was on as soon as it left his hand. Credit: Channel 7
The game-winner sent Australia through to the gold-medal match. Credit: Channel 7

Dalton broke out into rapturous celebrations with teammates but he moved quickly to console McIntyre.

The Englishman had slumped himself over his chair and was so devastated to lose that the Australian’s kind act of sportsmanship was initially met with a frosty reception.

Dalton persisted, checking on McIntyre once more before the Englishman accepted his handshake.

The devastated McIntyre eventually accepted Dalton’s handshake. Credit: Channel 7

EVERYEVENT: Check out the full Commonwealth Games schedule

TALLY MEDAL: Every gold, silver and bronze at Birmingham 2022

LATEST RESULTS: Detailed breakdown of every event at the Games

The 21-year-old’s game-winner earned huge praise from Australian basketball greats Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal.

“What a shot!!” Gaze wrote.

Heal put it simply: “Clutch.”

Aussie basketballers seek triple gold

Australia will go for gold against Canada in both the men’s and women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball finals on Tuesday night.

The women’s team had won their semi-final – also against England – earlier on Monday.

Amber Merritt pushed Australia out to an early 4-1 lead, scoring all four points, before Georgia Inglis and Ella Sabljak stretched it to 8-4.

Australia staved off a late fightback to win 8-6, with England to fight for bronze against Scotland.

Meanwhile, Australia’s able-bodied 3×3 basketball teams will also look to secure medals on Tuesday.

The women will first battle New Zealand for bronze before the men take on England in the gold-medal match.

The men’s team is led by six-time NBL champion Jesse Wagstaff, who is eyeing off a unique set of back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medals, and fellow former NBL players Daniel Johnson and Greg Hire.

Wagstaff won the traditional five-a-side competition at Gold Coast 2018, with that sport scrapped in favor of 3×3 for Birmingham 2022.

Jesse Wagstaff is gunning for unique back-to-back gold medals. Credit: Andrew Cornaga/AAP

Wright has spent the last few years on the 3×3 world circuit while also continuing to play five-a-side in the NBL1.

“I cannot wait; I’ve been dreaming of this moment for three years, since I found out that 3×3 was going to be in the Commonwealth Games,” the 33-year-old said.

“This is it – one more sleep. It’s a hell of a sport, so fast-paced and fun. You get to travel and go to war with a couple of close mates.

“I had played five-v-five my whole life for 20 years, and then this came around. It gave me a new lease of life and reignited my passion for basketball.”

Just like Tokyo 2020 on Seven, there is one destination to watch every epic feat, every medal moment, every record attempt and every inspiring turn from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

7plus is the only place to watch up to 30 live and replay channels of sport, see what’s on when, keep up to date with the medal tally, create a watchlist to follow your favorite events and catch up on highlights.

– with APA

Cyclist run over in horror Games crash

Cyclist run over in horror Games crash

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US

Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says



CNN

Examination of the substance in vape cartridges WNBA star Brittney Griner’s carried in February at a Moscow airport did not comply with Russian law, a defense expert testified Tuesday as her drug-smuggling trial in Russia continues amid US efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap for her release .

Among the violations is that results of the examination do not contain the amount of THC in the substance investigators tested, Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said after the hearing.

“The examination does not comply with the law in terms of the completeness of the study and does not comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified for the defense during the roughly two-hour session.

The defense also interrogated prosecution expert Alexander Korablyov, who examined Griner’s cartridges taken from her luggage.

Griner’s appearance in the Khimki city courthouse marked her seventh hearing as Russian prosecutors accuse her of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. She has pleaded guilty to drug charges – a decision her lawyers hope will result in a less severe sentence – even as the US State Department maintains she is wrongfully detained, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.

Supporters of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury center who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason have called for her release over fears she is being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. US officials face immense pressure from Griner’s family, lawmakers and the professional basketball community to bring her home, and Griner wrote to President Joe Biden pleading with him to do everything in his power to facilitate her release from her.

The 31-year-old sat Tuesday inside the defendant’s cage in the courtroom. The charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Tuesday’s hearing and afterward said the US would “continue to support Miss Griner through every step of this process and as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”

Griner’s next hearing is set for Thursday.

At trial, Griner has testified that she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. Following her arrest of her in February, she was tested for drugs and was clean, her lawyers previously said.

Amid public pressure and after months of internal debate, the Biden administration proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, offering to release a convicted Russian arms trafficker in exchange for Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, people briefed on the matter have told CNN.

Russian officials countered the US offer, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have said, requesting in addition to arms dealer Viktor Bout the US also include a convicted murderer who was formerly a colonel with the Russian spy agency, Vadim Krasikov.

US officials did not accept the request as a legitimate counteroffer, the sources told CNN, in part because the proposal was sent through an informal backchannel. Krasikov’s release would also be complicated because he is in German custody.

“It’s a bad faith attempt to avoid a very serious offer and proposal that the United States has put forward and we urge Russia to take that offer seriously,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby told CNN, later adding, “We very much want to see Brittney and Paul come home to their families where they belong.”

Meantime, Griner’s trial carries on, with her legal team expected to continue questioning more witnesses before moving to closing arguments, during which the lawyers will elaborate on why they believe Griner’s detention was handled improperly. Closing arguments are expected in coming weeks.

Griner’s attorneys have already laid out some arguments claiming the basketball player’s detention was not handled correctly after she was arrested February 17 by personnel at the Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Her detention, search and arrest were “improper,” Alexander Boykov, one of her lawyers, said last week, noting more details would be revealed during closing arguments.

After she was stopped in the airport, Griner was made to sign documents that she did not fully understand, she testified. At first, she said, she was using Google translate on her phone from her but was later moved to another room where her phone from her was taken and she was made to sign more documents.

No lawyer was present, she testified, and her rights were not explained to her. Those rights would include access to an attorney once she was detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. Under Russian law, she should have been informed of her rights within three hours of her arrest.

In her testimony, Griner “explained to the court that she knows and respects Russian laws and never intended to break them,” Blagovolina – a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners – said after last week’s hearing.

The detained player testified she was aware of Russian laws and had no intention of bringing the cannabis oil into the country, noting she was in a rush and “stress packing.”

Griner confirmed she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, Blagovolina said, which she uses to treat knee pain and joint inflammation.

“We continue to insist that, by indiscretion, in a hurry, she packed her suitcase and did not pay attention to the fact that substances allowed for use in the United States ended up in this suitcase and arrived in the Russian Federation,” Boykov, of Moscow Legal Center, has said.

Griner’s family, supporters and WNBA teammates continue to express messages of solidarity and hope as they wait for the conclusion of the trial and look forward to the potential of her release.

Before trial proceedings last week, the WNBA players union tweeted, “Dear BG … It’s early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is just beginning. Not a day, not an hour goes by that you’re not on our minds & in our hearts.”

This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.

correction: A prior version of this story missed Brittney Griner’s first name.

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Sports

America mourns basketball legend and civil rights activist Bill Russell, who died aged 88

Bill Russell redefined how basketball is played, and then he changed the way sports are viewed in a racially divided country.

The most prolific winner in NBA history, Russell marched with Martin Luther King Jr, supported Muhammad Ali and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

The centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years, Russell earned his last two NBA titles as a player-coach — the first black coach in any major US sport.

Russell died on Sunday at the age of 88. His family posted the news on social media, saying his wife Jeannine was by his side. The statement did not give the cause of death, but Russell was not well enough to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy in June due to a long illness.

“Bill’s wife, Jeannine, and his many friends and family thank you for keeping Bill in your prayers. Perhaps you’ll relive one or two of the golden moments he gave us, or recall his trademark laugh as he delighted in explaining the real story behind how those moments unfolded,” the family statement said.

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“And we hope each of us can find a new way to act or speak up with Bill’s uncompromising, dignified and always constructive commitment to principle.

“That would be one last, and lasting, win for our beloved #6.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement that Russell was “the greatest champion in all of team sports.”

“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values ​​of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league. At the height of his athletic career, Bill vigorously advocated for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps,” Silver said.

“Through the taunts, threats and unthinkable adversity, Bill rose above it all and remained true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.”

A Hall of Famer, five-time Most Valuable Player and 12-time All-Star, Russell in 1980 was voted the greatest player in the NBA history by basketball writers.

He remains the sport’s most decorated champion — he also won two college titles and an Olympic gold medal — and an archetype of selflessness who won with defense and rebounding while others racked up gaudy scoring totals.

Often, that meant Wilt Chamberlain — the only worthy rival of Russell’s era and his prime competition for rebounds, MVP trophies and bar room arguments about who was better. Chamberlain, who died in 1999 at 63, had twice as many points, four MVP trophies of his own and is the only person in league history to grab more rebounds than Russell — 23,924 to 21,620.

But Russell dominated in the only stat he cared about: 11 championships to two.

The native of Louisiana also left a lasting mark as a black athlete in a city — and country — where race is often a flash point.

He was at the March on Washington in 1963, when King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, and he backed Muhammad Ali when the boxer was pilloried for refusing induction into the military draft.

bill russell
Bill Russell stands court side during a tribute in his honor during a game in 2013. (AP Photo: Michael Dwyer)

“To be the greatest champion in your sport, to revolutionize the way the game is played, and to be a societal leader all at once seems unthinkable, but that is who Bill Russell was,” the Boston Celtics said in a statement.

In 2011, Mr Obama awarded Russell the Medal of Freedom alongside Congressman John Lewis, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and baseball great Stan Musial.

“Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men,” Obama said at the ceremony.

“He marched with King; he stood by Ali. When a restaurant refused to serve the Black Celtics, he refused to play in the scheduled game. He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players and made possible the success of so many who would follow.”

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Russell said that when he was growing up in the segregated south and later California his parents instilled in him the calm confidence that allowed him to brush off racist taunts.

“Years later, people asked me what I had to go through,” Russell said in 2008.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’ve never been through anything. From my first moment of being alive was the notion that my mother and father loved me.”

It was Russell’s mother who would tell him to disregard comments from those who might see him playing in the yard.

“Whatever they say, good or bad, they don’t know you,” he recalled her saying.

“They’re wrestling with their own demons.”

But it was Jackie Robinson who gave Russell a road map for dealing with racism in his sport: “Jackie was a hero to us. He always conducted himself as a man. He showed me the way to be a man in professional sports.”

The feeling was mutual, Russell learned, when Robinson’s widow, Rachel, called and asked him to be a pallbearer at her husband’s funeral in 1972.

Bill Russell and Muhammad Ali
Bill Russell (left), with Muhammad Ali (centre) and college basketballer Lew Alcindor. The photo was taken during a meeting of a group of the nation’s top athletes to hear Ali’s views of him on rejecting Army induction. (Getty Images)

“She hung the phone up and I asked myself, ‘How do you get to be a hero to Jackie Robinson?'” Russell said. “I was so flattered.”

William Felton Russell was born on February 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana.

He was a child when his family moved to the West Coast, and he went to high school in Oakland, California, and then the University of San Francisco. He led the Dons to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956 and won a gold medal in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics.

Celtics coach and general manager Red Auerbach so coveted Russell that he worked out a trade with the St Louis Hawks for the second pick in the draft. He promised the Rochester Royals, who owned the number one pick, a lucrative visit by the Ice Capades, which were also run by Celtics owner Walter Brown.

Still, Russell arrived in Boston to complain that he wasn’t that good.

Bill Russell in Melbourne
Bill Russell, back left, joins his US teammates in posing for a photo with Soviet Union basketballers during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics at the Royal Exhibition Building.(Getty Images)

“People said it was a wasted draft choice, wasted money,” he recalled.

“They said, ‘He’s no good. All he can do is block shots and rebound.’ And Red said, ‘That’s enough.'”

The Celtics also picked up Tommy Heinsohn and KC Jones, Russell’s college teammate, in the same draft. Although Russell joined the team late because he was leading the US to the Olympic gold, Boston finished the regular season with the league’s best record.

The Celtics won the NBA championship — their first of 17 — in a double-overtime seventh game against Bob Pettit’s St Louis Hawks. Russell won his first MVP award the next season, but the Hawks won the title in a finals rematch. The Celtics won it all again in 1959, starting an unprecedented string of eight consecutive NBA crowns.

At 6-foot-10 centre, Russell never averaged more than 18.9 points during his 13 seasons, each year averaging more rebounds per game than points. For 10 seasons I have averaged more than 20 rebounds. He eleven had 51 rebounds in a game; Chamberlain holds the record with 55.

Auerbach retired after winning the 1966 title, and Russell became the player-coach — the first Black head coach in NBA history, and almost a decade before Frank Robinson took over baseball’s Cleveland Indians. Boston finished with the second-best regular-season record in the NBA, and its title streak ended with a loss to Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Division finals.

Russell led the Celtics back to titles in 1968 and ’69, each time winning a seven-game play-off series against Chamberlain. Russell retired after the ’69 finals, returning for a relatively successful — but unfulfilling — four-year stint as coach and GM of the Seattle SuperSonics and a less fruitful half season as coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Russell’s number six jersey was retired by the Celtics in 1972. He earned spots on the NBA’s 25th anniversary all-time team in 1970, 35th anniversary team in 1980 and 75th anniversary team. In 1996, he was hailed as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players.

In 2009, the MVP trophy of the NBA Finals was named in his honor — even though Russell never won himself, because it wasn’t awarded for the first time until 1969. Russell, however, traditionally presented the trophy for many years, the last time in 2019 to Kawhi Leonard; Russell was not there in 2020 because of the NBA bubble nor in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.

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