Bill Russell Has Joined A Legendary List Of Pro Athletes

 

When Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell passed away last month, fans across the league called on the NBA to do something substantial to honor him.

Obviously, the Celtics will do much to celebrate Russell in the upcoming season but another huge symbolic gesture will be done across the entire NBA.

Russell’s number, No. 6, is being retired throughout the entire league, meaning that soon no one will be able to wear the iconic number that Russell had.

Players to have their jersey number retired league-wide:

Jackie Robinson
Wayne Gretzky
Bill Russell

Legends. pic.twitter.com/DcRlPoDPuA

— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 11, 2022

Russell now joins a small group of professional athletes who have had their numbers retired league-wide.

Jackie Robinson in baseball and Wayne Gretzky in hockey are the only other stars who have had their numbers hung up forever.

This just goes to show how special each of these men, including Russell, was.

This doesn’t happen often, even for the most talented and special superstars.

 

The Legacy Of Six Lives On

The NBA says that there are 25 players, including LeBron James, Lou Williams, Alex Caruso, and Kristaps Porzingis, who currently wear No. 6.

They will be able to do so as long as they want since they are grandfathered into this new plan.

But whenever they change numbers, retire, or switch teams, no one else will take up Russell’s number.

As for the Celtics, the team is currently at work on multiple other ways to honor Russell, all of which will be announced at a later date.

The team plans to create unique recognition on the team uniform this season but they will do even more too.

Back in 1997, the MLB retired the No. 42 for Robinson while the NHL retired No. 99 for Gretzky in 1999.

Russell now sits alongside them as one of the few to change his league forever.