The NBA will honor Celtics great and civil rights activist Bill Russell by retiring his No. 6 jersey throughout the league, making him the first player to receive the honor.
A patch commemorating the 11-time champion will be worn on the right shoulder of player jerseys and a shamrock-shaped logo with the No. 6 on courts will be used across the league as well for the 2022-23 season, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said on Thursday.
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“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 in a statement.
“Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognised.”
Russell, the cornerstone of a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA titles and a powerful voice for social justice during and after his career, died on July 31 at the age of 88.
US President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama — who awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 — were among those who paid tribute to Russell’s contributions on and off the court.
NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said the union was proud to support the “momentous honor” of retiring Russell’s jersey.
“Bill’s actions on and off the court throughout the course of his life helped to shape generations of players for the better and for that, we are forever grateful,” Tremaglio said.
Russell wore the No. 6 for his entire 13-season career from 1956-69. It will not be issued again by any NBA team to any player, although players who currently wear No. 6 — a group that includes Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and the Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis — can retain it.
The NBA said the Celtics plan to “separate and unique recognition” for Russell on their uniforms, which will be revealed at a later date.
While the league-wide jersey retirement is a first for the NBA, it has happened in other North American leagues.
Major-league Baseball permanently retired No. 42 in 1997 in honor of Jackie Robinson, who broke the big leagues’ color barrier.
The NHL said upon Wayne Gretzky’s retirement in 1999 that his No. 99 would be retired league-wide.
Ben Simmons isn’t naive to the rumors running rampant about his status with the Brooklyn Nets and his relationship with fiancee Maya Jama.
The Nets guard returned to Twitter on Wednesday, following a two-month hiatus, and tweeted, “slow news day”, with a crying-laughing emoji, the new york post reports.
Simmons also re-posted a tweet by Jama, in which the British TV presenter and model wrote “Stop believing ‘sources’ in papers plz”.
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Jama’s tweet came Sunday, a day after reports emerged that she had allegedly called off the couple’s engagement and that the pair were “heartbroken” over the break-up.
Simmons’ tweet could have also been a response to a report from NBA insider Ric Bucher, who claimed the Aussie NBA star left a group chat without replying to Nets teammates who asked him to play in their must-win Game 4 of their playoff series against Boston last season. Brooklyn was swept by the Celtics in the first round.
“They’re having a team chat before Game 4, thinking he’s going to play against the Boston Celtics,” Bucher said on The Herd last week. “From what I’m told, Ben just left the chat.
“They asked him, ‘Are you going to play?’ Ben left the chat. Like he did n’t even answer the question, he just left the chat. And KD (Kevin Durant) is like, ‘This is what I signed up for? This is who I’m playing with?’”
on wednesday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania denied Bucher’s report during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“This never happened… it’s an amazing story but it didn’t happen,” said Charania.
Simmons also re-tweeted a clip of that exchange, suggesting once again he was bemused by suggestions of his text message etiquette.
A three-time All-Star, Simmons is currently training in New York and continuing recovery from back surgery he underwent in May.
“He’s looking good,” Charania said. “There are high expectations (in Brooklyn) for Simmons. He’s supposed to be ready for training camp … and he’s doing more and more on the court.”
Simmons sat out the entire 2021-22 NBA season due to mental health issues and a lingering back injury, including the first half of the season with the Sixers, and then the remainder of the season after Philadelphia traded him to the Nets for James Harden in February.
Simmons’ latest tweet also came a day after The New York Post confirmed that Durant — who requested a trade out of Brooklyn in June — wants General Manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash gone.
On Monday, The Post confirmed Durant issued an ultimatum to Nets owner Joe Tsai at a face-to-face meeting in London, telling Tsai to choose between him or Marks and Nash.
This story first appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Ben Simmons has been savagely exposed for leaving his teammates hanging during a crucial NBA playoff contest.
Simmons was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the 2021/22 season in a blockbuster trade that landed the Philadelphia 76ers James Harden.
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After having not suited up throughout the regular season, Simmons’ return to the hardwood gained momentum in the lead up to the playoffs.
The Athletic reported his return had been earmarked for the Nets in Game 4 of their first round series against the Boston Celtics.
Down 3-0, the Nets were on the brink of elimination and a Ben Simmons injection could have delivered the spark they required.
Prior to the do-or-die contest, Simmons pulled out due to back soreness that eventually required surgery. He did not sit on the bench alongside his teammates for the game which the Celtics won 116-112.
But now a new damning report has shown Simmons’ withdrawal went a step further. NBA analyst Ric Bucher spilled the beans, exposing Simmons’ bizarre snub.
“They’re having a team chat before game four, thinking he’s going to play against the Celtics, and from what I’m told, Ben just left the chat,” Bucher told Colin Cowherd on The Herd.
“They asked him, ‘Are you going to play?’ Ben left the chat. Like he didn’t even answer the question. He just left the chat.”
The damning report sent basketball social media into a spin with many rocked by the unbelievable move from the Aussie.
Podcaster Mike Golic Jr wrote: “Not sure anyone involved ever recovers and I’m only kind of joking.”
ESPN’s Sarah Spain wrote: “WELP”.
Barstool Sports’ Dan Greenberg wrote: “I’m sorry what”.
The news comes on the same day Kevin Durant’s bombshell trade demands came to light, with the superstar putting an ultimatum on team owner Joe Tsai.
The 26-year-old required surgery in May on his lower back after withdrawing from that crucial playoff clash with the Celtics.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Simmons needed back surgery after experiencing “pain soreness” the day before the Nets were eventually eliminated.
“Brooklyn Nets swingman Ben Simmons will require three to four months of rehabilitation after undergoing back surgery, but is expected to be fully recovered to return to the court well ahead of pre-season training camp in September, sources told ESPN on Wednesday,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote.
Ben Simmons’ rocky NBA career has taken another turn after the Brooklyn Nets guard reportedly left a players group chat before a decisive playoff game last season.
Simmons was drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 NBA Draft but found himself locked in a standoff with the franchise after demanding a trade.
The Australian was eventually dealt to the Nets as part of a package for All-Star guard James Harden, and was expected to don his new colors for the first time in the playoffs.
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The Athletic reported in April that Simmons was set to debut for Brooklyn in Game Four, during the first round of the playoffs.
Brooklyn were already down 3-0 to the eventual Eastern Conference champions Boston Celtics when he pulled out with back soreness.
But renowned NBA analyst Ric Bucher has made a stunning revelation about Simmons, saying that he left a players group chat without saying a word before Game Four.
“They’re having a team chat before Game four, thinking he’s going to play against the Celtics, and from what I’m told, Ben just left the chat,” Bucher told Colin Cowherd on The Herd.
“They asked him, ‘Are you going to play?’ Ben left the chat. Like he didn’t even answer the question. He just left the chat.”
Dad UP for Bronny James alley-oop! | 00:21
The 26-year-old required surgery in March on his lower back after withdrawing from that crucial playoff clash with the Celtics.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Simmons needed back surgery after experiencing “pain soreness” the day before the Nets were eventually eliminated.
“Brooklyn Nets swingman Ben Simmons will require three to four months of rehabilitation after undergoing back surgery, but is expected to be fully recovered to return to the court well ahead of pre-season training camp in September, sources told ESPN on Wednesday,” Wojnarowski wrote.
“The decision to undergo the surgery was reached after ‘consultation with multiple back specialists,’ the team said Wednesday.”
Simmons said that mental health was the reason behind his ugly exit from Philadelphia, as he opened up on his “dark times.”
However, sports radio host Ben Maller believed that it was just an excuse for the Melbourne-born talent to leave the Sixers.
“Ben Simmons in Philadelphia was a charlatan, a fake, a phony and a fraud,” Maller said on Fox Sports Radio in February
“This guy has been hiding behind the mental health card playing it from the bottom of the deck, knowing that it makes you untouchable in a polite society.
“The establishment media are afraid of even slightly criticizing someone who makes this claim, like Ben Simmons.”
The Brooklyn Nets absolutely deserve this no-ring circus, and every absurd sideshow that defines it.
They deserve to be universally mocked after Kevin Durant followed up his trade demand with a vicious put-back dunk — one call for the firing of the general manager who hired him, and another for the head coach he got hired.
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In May, Sean Marks and Steve Nash announced in a news conference that it was time to dump their culture of superstar appeasement in favor of the old one, under deposed coach Kenny Atkinson, of player development and organic team-centric growth.
Over the weekend, The Athletic reported, Durant announced in a London meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai that it was time to dump Marks and Nash in favor of replacements capable of driving a championship-level roster to a more desirable postseason location than a first- round sweep.
Durant has reportedly made these terminations the terms of his re-engagement, his only road back to Brooklyn, and on a certain level Tsai might feel tempted — despite tweeting out his support for the front office and coaching staff — to give him what he wants .
Kevin Durant looks headed for a messy exit from the Brooklyn Nets. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP
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After all, KD is better at his job than Marks and Nash are at theirs, and in a cold, cold business, a question needs to be asked: Who gives you a better chance to finally win a championship, Durant with a new head coach and GM, or Marks/Nash with whatever assets the Nets acquire in a KD deal?
They call the NBA a players league for a reason.
Basketball has fewer players in the arena than football, baseball, and hockey, adding more value to the individual juggernaut who can control the ball on nearly every possession.
Durant will go down among the top dozen or so all-time NBA greats, and even with his injury history at an opening-night age of 34, there really is no replacing him.
On the other hand, Durant has proven to be a less effective GM than Marks and one who shouldn’t be making personnel decisions.
As we’ve written before, KD executed one of the worst trades in league history when he exchanged Steph Curry and Golden State’s winning DNA for Kyrie Irving and a whole lot of problems to be named later.
Things haven’t gone to plan in Brooklyn for Durant. Michelle Farsi/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP
Had Durant stayed with Curry and the Warriors, he ultimately would’ve won more rings than LeBron James’ four and climbed another step or three on the legacy ladder.
But Durant wanted to prove he could build his own winner, with Irving by his side, and what a colossal miscalculation it’s been.
Nobody blames the Nets for doing what they had to do to beat the Knicks and others in the free-agent race for Durant and Irving in the summer of 2019.
Smart people do blame them for taking on DeAndre Jordan at $40 million, for axing Atkinson, and for shipping out nearly their entire development system for 13 high-maintenance months of James Harden as part of the price of doing business with KD and Kyrie.
“The Nets should be fined by the league if they ever use the word ‘culture’ again,” said one prominent NBA source.
Of course, the Nets had already exposed their soulless core when they caved in on their initial COVID stance with the unvaccinated Irving, all in pursuit of on-court victories that wouldn’t come.
Tsai and Marks have found out the hard way that once you turn over your business to the talent, there’s no getting it back.
Durant hadn’t even started playing on his four-year extension worth nearly $200 million before he told the Nets he wanted to be somewhere else.
Right after Irving opted in, Durant opted out.
Durant reportedly wants Steve Nash gone as head coach. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Though he pushed for his buddy Nash, a man with no coaching experience, to get the Nets job two years ago, KD now believes Nash has little idea what he’s doing. Beautiful.
After the Celtics swept his team in April, Durant was asked if he believed Nash was still “the right guy to lead this group.”
With a dose of incredulity he responded, “I mean, come on man. Like, yeah, Steve has been dealt a crazy hand the last two years, when he’s had to deal with so much stuff as a head coach, a first-time coach. He trades, injuries, COVID, just a lot of stuff he had to deal with, and I’m proud of how he just focused on his passion for us. And we’ll all continue to keep developing over the summer and see what happens.”
We all know what happened since that response.
The Warriors won another championship, beating the same team in the Finals that had embarrassed the Nets, and Durant decided to lash out.
He realized that Brooklyn was a million miles away from legitimate title contention — in large part because of deals and hires he notarized — and he wanted to get to a team that could cut off Golden State’s advance on more rings.
No, I needed to get to a team that could cut off Golden State’s advance on more rings.
Durant eventually realized the Nets’ asking price in a trade is so high, any team that lands him will be too depleted to win it all.
So in a brutally hot summer, he turned up the heat on Tsai by telling him he’d return if the owner makes Marks and Nash disappear. Durant is trying to will a trade into existence.
In the process, he has left the Nets looking like the kind of league-wide joke they often were in the bad ol’ days in Jersey.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission
