The NBA recently announced that the late Bill Russell’s uniform number will be retired across the league for good.
Decided alongside the National Basketball Players Association, starting from next season, Russell’s No. 6 jersey will not be used by any member of the 30 teams in honor of the late basketball player and civil rights activist.
Those who currently wear the number will be grandfathered in, according to the NBA, allowing them to choose whether to change their jersey number or continue to wear the No. 6 jersey in honor of Russell. Amongst the 25 players who can continue to wear the No. 6 jersey are the Lakers’ LeBron James, the Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso and the Detroit Pistons’ Hamidou Diallo.
Along with retiring his jersey number, the league will also honor Russell by including a commemorative patch on the jerseys of all players during the 2022-2023 season and requiring each court to put up a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on the sidelines to represent the late Boston Celtics’ legend.
“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” said Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA league in a statement. “Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized.”
In 1997, Major League Baseball made a similar move when they chose to retire the No. 42 jersey in honor of baseball great Jackie Robinson, making the New York Yankees’ Mariano Rivera the last ever person to wear the number once he retired in 2013. However, with the new announcement, Russell, who passed away on July 31 at the age of 88, is set to become the first player and currently the only player to have his jersey retired across the NBA league.
Throughout his life, Russell transformed the game, breaking both records and barriers while turning into an all-time great. As a student, Russell played for the basketball team of the University of San Francisco during which he was able to win two back-to-back championships in 1955 and 1956, respectively. During the same year as his second championship win and right after he joined the Celtics, he helped bring victory to the U.S. men’s basketball team, captaining the team and earning gold during the summer Olympics in Melbourne.
For most of his career, from 1956 to 1969, Russell continued to play as a center for the Boston Celtics, eventually recording 11 championships in 13 seasons as a player in the NBA. Once he joined the training division of the Celtics, the already-legendary player broke barriers and became the first Black head coach in the league.
While he became famed for speaking up against injustices in the sports world and setting, Russell was also noted for his civil rights activism outside of sports, eventually earning a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for his work. As an active participant in the civil rights movement, he took part in the March on Washington, led the first integrated basketball camp in Mississippi following the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, supported Muhammad Ali when the boxer refused his draft to Vietnam and bought free food to protestors that were fighting alongside Mel King for affordable housing in Boston.
“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,” said Tamika Tremaglio, the executive director of the NBPA, in a statement. “We are proud to continue the celebration of his life and legacy alongside the league.”
