Russell remembered as player, coach, man
SALT LAKE CITY — This was the first All-star weekend since the death of 11-time champion, Hall of Fame player and Hall of Fame coach Bill Russell. He was not forgotten.
The entire season has been a tribute to Russell, with all teams putting his No. 6 at midcourt and all players wearing it on their jerseys. And at Sunday’s Legends Brunch — one of the best events of All-star weekend, not to mention one of the toughest tickets to secure — Russell was honored with remarks from Boston All-star Jaylen Brown, former on-court rivals Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-jabbar, and Hall of Famer Grant Hill.
Abdul-jabbar called Russell “my friend, my mentor, my role model.” He was 14 when he first met Russell, and the initial greeting wasn’t overly friendly; the Celtics were using the gym at Power Memorial in New York, Abdul-jabbar’s high school, for practice. Russell was reading The New York Times, and Celtics coach Red Auerbach suggested he meet the player then known as Lew Alcindor.
How Abdul-jabbar remembered Russell’s response: “I’m not getting up to meet some kid.”
They met anyway, and became close over the years, with Russell — notorious for disliking autographs — even signing a Celtics jersey for Abdul-jabbar a few years ago. And that day, just as he did in that gym a half-century earlier, Russell called Abdul-jabbar “kid.”
“There’s a whole lot more truth and love and respect for my 60-year relationship with Bill Russell,” Abdul-jabbar said. “Not just as one of the greatest basketball players to ever live, but as the man who taught me how to be bigger as a player, and as a man.”
Zhuri’s moment
Lebron James always said that he wasn’t chasing Kareem Abdul-jabbar’s scoring record, so there was no sense of relief when he took over the top spot on the NBA points list.
To him, the best moment within that moment was the reaction of his daughter Zhuri to the record-breaking jumper earlier this month. James posted the clip on his social channels.
“I actually posted I believe yesterday or the other day,” James said. “It’s hard for me to stop watching that because watching Zhuri’s reaction to that is, like, the greatest — it’s so cool.”