After Bill Russell died last year ahead of the 2022-23 season, the NBA went above and beyond to honor the former Celtics legend and Hall of Famer. The league retired his No. 6 jersey across the league as the Celtics themselves honored the 11-time champion and civil rights activist. That’s natural considering Russell’s legacy, which goes beyond his contributions on the court.
Still, it turns out that some players weren’t exactly happy about seeing Russell’s No. 6 jersey hanging in the rafters. Bam Adebayo recounted a story of a Udonis Haslem pregame speech on “The OGs Show,” which is hosted by Haslem and Mike Miller.
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“We playing Boston, so you know his feelings,” Adebayo said. “We’re in the huddle. Cap come in there, he gave his pregame speech and you know they retired Bill Russell’s jersey for everybody in the league. So they got 6 in our rafters. And he’s in his pregame speech — (expletive) Bill Russell, too.”
Haslem expanded on his thought process a little bit in the clip.
“I love Bill,” Haslem said. “No disrespect to Bill. I love you. He just caught that stray. But will you ever see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in the Boston rafters? Respect Bill Russell, I love him. Why the (expletive) he got to hang in here.”
Of course, the Heat and Celtics have had a rivalry that has gone back different generations and core. Haslem was a part of those battles from the LeBron James days to the more recent seasons where Jimmy Butler and Adebayo have gone up against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Haslem played all 20 of his NBA seasons in Miami, though he was a veteran presence in his final playing days and didn’t see the court much at all.
There certainly wasn’t much love lost for any members of the Celtics, even a legend like Russell who was a trailblazer in his career. Russell’s impact as a human is a huge part of his legacy, which is also why the NBA honored him league-wide. Even if Haslem didn’t love seeing a Celtics jersey in the rafters, it was also symbolic of Russell’s wide-ranging legacy.
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