This offseason, the NBA world lost one of its biggest icons. Boston Celtics great Bill Russell. A Hall of Famer, 11-time Champion, 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, five-time league MVP, and a member of the 25th, 50th, and 75th Anniversary team, he won so many NBA Finals that the Finals MVP awards they named the award after him. While those on-court achievements alone warrant him being the first player in NBA history to have his jersey number retired league-wide, what Russell did off the court was just as important.
Bill Russell was the first African-American head coach in NBA history, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, was an activist marching alongside Marin Luther King Jr., and was a fantastic face of this game. Russell has been connected to the sport since his playing days, to coaching, to being an executive, to just a fan and bridge to NBA history. From presenting the NBA Finals MVP trophy, being an excellent interviewee, and an incredible human.
NBA to retire Boston Celtics great Bill Russell’s number six jersey league-wide, current players wearing number six, like OKC Thunder big man Jaylin Williams, are grandfathered in
This is the first time the National Basketball Association has retired a jersey number league-wide, something baseball has done in the past with Jackie Robinson’s icon number 42 being retired across the entire Major League Baseball. The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky’s jersey number (99) league-wide, and now the NBA has an icon number lifted into the rafters around the Association.
Active players who currently wear number six will be “grandfathered in” to keep their number according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, but the number six will never be re-issued again past this wave of players.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have already issued the number six for this season to rookie big man Jaylin Willimas out of Arkansas. While Williams has not played an official NBA game yet, he should still fit into this clause. Williams could still choose to switch numbers before October.
Jaylin Williams will be the ninth player in OKC Thunder team history to wear the number six, and it will join the only other number in the rafters at the Paycom Center, four (Nick Collison) to honor NBA legend, Bill Russell.