Holley: Reflecting on the incredible legacy of Celtics icon Bill Russell originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
One of the best road trips of my life was also one of the shortest. For about 45 minutes, in Boston traffic that I actually wanted to be slower, I once rode around the city with Bill Russell.
I’d like to tell you I was Russell’s plus one in this 1999 moment, but it was even better than that; I was his plus two. Russell sat across from me in the back of a shiny black limo, and Julius Erving sat next to him. They were in town to promote Russell’s night of appreciation at the Garden. We now know what a legendary night that was, with industry geniuses Aretha Franklin, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Jim Brown and dozens of others here to celebrate Russell, Boston’s true philosopher-king.
Forsberg: Bill Russell set the standard for Celtics basketball
Russell clearly made all of his teammates better players, helping each of them reach for something they didn’t know they had. He had a knack for doing that with people who were around him, too.
During that limo ride, he teased Dr. J about his 1984 fight with Bird. He cackled, loudly and hysterically – as only Russell could – and eventually the reluctant Doctor was laughing about something that he’d previously considered out of bounds. That was one of Russell’s gifts. He pushed boundaries in search of results, and sometimes the result was a laugh, a piece of legislation, or an opponent’s snuffed layup.
He wasn’t simply a citizen of his time. Like any true innovator, he elevated everything associated with his time, whether it was his sport or his society. He didn’t do everything right, but he did everything with purpose.
It always makes me cringe when I hear dismissals of Russell’s and the Celtics’ dominance in a fledgling NBA. How hard could it be, the logic goes, competing in an eight- or 10- or 14-team league?
None of it, on the court or off, was as easy as it looked. Russell won five MVPs, and when he didn’t win it, Chamberlain usually did. In Russell and Chamberlain’s “off” years, the MVPs were Hall of Famers Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson, and Wes Unseld. It was a small circle that lacked fraudulence. The game evolved because they pushed it and each other.
Celtics Talk podcast: Brad Stevens reflects on the life and legacy of Bill Russell | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
But that was just the intense basketball side, which was still easier to face than…