NBA legend Bill Russell dies at 88

NBA legend Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion, has died at the age of 88.

His household mentioned that he ‘handed away peacefully at age 88 along with his spouse, Jeannine, by his facet’. 

They mentioned in a press release on Sunday: ‘It is with a really heavy coronary heart we want to move alongside to all of Bill’s mates, followers & followers:

‘Bill Russell, essentially the most prolific winner in American sports activities historical past, handed away peacefully at this time at age 88, along with his spouse Jeannine, by his facet. Arrangements for his memorial service shall be introduced quickly.

‘Bill’s two state championships in highschool provided a glimmer of the incomparable run of pure crew accomplishment to return: twice an NCAA champion; captain of a gold-medal-winning US Olympic crew; 11 instances an NBA champion; and at the helm for 2 NBA championships as the primary black head coach of any North American skilled sports activities crew.

‘Along the best way Bill earned a string of particular person awards that stands unprecedented because it went unmentioned by him. In 2009, the award for the NBA finals Most worthy participant was renamed after two-time Hall of Famer because the “Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

‘But for all the winning, 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.’

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NBA legend Bill Russell has handed away at the age of 88