NBA legend Bill Russell dies aged 88

‘Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men’, Obama said in 2011

NBA legend Bill Russell has died at the age of 88, his family has announced in a statement on social media.

“Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon”, the family said in a statement posted to Mr Russell’s Twitter account on Sunday.

“Bill’s two state championships in high school offered a glimmer of the incomparable run of pure team accomplishment to come: twice an NCAA champion; captain of a gold-medal-winning US Olympic team; 11 times an NBA champion, and at the helm for two NBA championships as the first black head coach of any North American professional sports team”, the statement read.

“Along the way, Bill earned a string of individual awards that stands unprecedented as it went unmentioned by him. In 2009, the award for the NBA Finals most valuable player was renamed after two-time Hall of Famer as the ‘Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award’”, the family added.

The statement said that Mr Russell’s “understanding of the struggle ... 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 Evans’ 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”, the family said.

Former Boston Celtics basketball player Bill Russell addresses an audience during a campaign fundraising event, in Boston, May 18, 2011 (AP)

In a statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that Mr 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 advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps”, Mr 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.”

When President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mr Russell in 2011, he said: “Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men.”

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) presents Basetball Hall of Fame member and human rights advocate Bill Russell the 2010 Medal of Freedom in the East Room of the White House February 15, 2011 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

“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”, Mr Obama added.

Mr Russell, born in 1934, grew up in the segregated South and later lived in California. He said his parents gave him the confidence to shake off racist abuse.

“Years later, people asked me what I had to go through”, he said in 2008, according to the Associated Press. “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.”

His mother told him to ignore comments from some who may see him in the yard.

“Whatever they say, good or bad, they don’t know you”, he remembered his mother saying. “They’re wrestling with their own demons.”

Mr Silver added that he “often called [Mr Russell] basketball’s Babe Ruth for how he transcended time”.

“Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever”, he added. “We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Jeannine, his family and his many friends.”