Bill Russell is the greatest champion in NBA history. He led his Boston Celtics to 11 titles in 13 years, one of the greatest feats in NBA history. While the league was very different then, Russell proved to be a trailblazer for Black athletes in the NBA and is still recognized as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
When the ongoing NBA Finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors ends, Russell will be in the arena to hand out the Finals MVP trophy to the best player in the series on the winning team. The award is named after him and he has done this in every Finals for decades now (except in 2020 due to the pandemic).
Up until he has to hand the award out to the winner, Russell is under no obligation to be unbiased in who he supports. Naturally, Russell is rooting for his Boston Celtics to win so he can give out the trophy to one of the men in green.
Game 5 I’m here for it! Let’s go @celtics #BleedGreen just in case you need a back up #NBAFinals @celtics vs @warriors @NBAonABC @nba pic.twitter.com/uqec8ZUvVP
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) June 14, 2022
The Celtics are standing on the shoulders of what Bill Russell achieved for them. The franchise is looking for its 18th title this season, showing how their winning peak fell off after the league restructured and players like Bill retired.
Boston has seen legends like Larry Bird and Paul Pierce lead them to championship glory before. Will one of the young Celtics’ wings join them in that realm? Russell will be beaming at the thought of handing that trophy out to either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown.
The Warriors are an incredibly tough opponent to get through. With the support of a Celtics legend like Bill, the team will hope to not let him down and deliver with a classic Game 5 performance that sees them go back to Boston with a 3-2 lead.
