As people reminisce about their memories of the great Bill Russell on his passing, all the incredible things he accomplished during his life come to light once again. Russell is one of the more influential figures in the history of American sports, and while he tackled many of the serious issues within society for much of his time, he also had a fun side to him.
One such instance came during the 2018 NBA Awards show that he attended, as he hilariously flipped off Charles Barkley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiueaacGsg
Barkley was acknowledging the legends in attendance before presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Oscar Robertson when Russell just decided to go ahead with it, and he later stated that’s just a habit of his when he sees Barkley.
Sorry everyone, I forgot it was live TV & I can’t help myself whenever I see Charles it just is pure instinct. @NBAonTNT @NBA #birdman #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/0zQLvWhuKi
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) June 26, 2018
Barkley, for his part, took no offense whatsoever to it, and later admitted on the Jim Rome Podcast that he was desperately trying to hold off his laughter after seeing Russell flip him off.
(starts at 26:12 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFAeQxlwB6g
“I thought it was one of the coolest things (that) ever happened to me, because Bill’s a mentor, he’s like a father to me and he does that to everybody. It meant a lot to me, because if you know Bill, well, I don’t even call him Bill, Mr. Russell, he is one of the best people ever. And I was laughing so hard I almost couldn’t keep reading, because I was just naming all the people at his table before I got to give an award to Mr. Robertson, but I almost fell, I was laughing so hard inside, because I didn’t want to stop, and interrupt Mr. Robertson getting his lifetime achievement award, but I thought it was pretty funny, no, I thought it was really funny and I thought it was hilarious.”
This wasn’t the first time Russell has made headlines in a hilarious fashion at the NBA Awards show either, as in 2017 he had told Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo on stage, that he would kick their ass.
It was always nice to see this side of Russell and he will be sorely missed by the NBA family. Barkley also reacted to his passing as he called him a great man and a hero.
