Bill Russell got the ultimate honor from the NBA earlier this week, as it was announced that his No. 6 would be getting retired league-wide. Russell is the first NBA player and just the third across all major American sports leagues to get this honor and he certainly deserves it for all that he has done, not just on the court but off it as well.
Jalen Rose applauded the decision but he added that NBA teams should go a step further, as he felt that all the arenas in the NBA should hang a banner of Russell, like the one that currently hangs in Boston.
(starts at 1:27 mark):
“The number 6 is going to be so symbolic for Bill Russell and let me tell you why in a different way. I just wish each team hangs a banner also to create a visual for the number 6, so it isn’t abstract, and here’s why. I love Jerry West, he’s a legend, but Bill Russell should have been the logo of the NBA and now that his number is going to be retired, I don’t want it to be gone and not forgotten when people aren’t wearing it. I think it’d be truly an amazing gesture if each NBA arena, besides Boston where it currently hangs, the other 29 should also hang a Bill Russell banner with the number 6. I think that’s a step that I’m not sure that they’re considering but that’s definitely something I want to put into the ethos.”
It would be amazing if every team in the NBA goes that route and we wait and see if that happens. As Rose said, the visual of seeing that in every arena would mean it won’t ever be forgotten and it will be there for everyone to see years down the road.
It is great to see Russell being celebrated like this but the man himself wasn’t too keen on getting his number retired, as he once told Red Auerbach to not retire his No. 6 with the Celtics, as he wasn’t seeking any validation.
