Bill Russell’s No. 6 Joins Rare Class of Retired Jersey Numbers

Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.

Bill Russell, who died last month at 88, is getting a rare honor: His No. 6 will be retired, not just for his team, the Boston Celtics, but for the entire N.B.A. Among major sports, only Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 in baseball and Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 in hockey have been retired leaguewide.
That raises some questions, which we will endeavor to answer.

What about the N.B.A. players who are currently wearing No. 6?​

These players, among them LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, may continue to wear No. 6 until they retire. But no new players will be issued the number. The same rule applied when Robinson’s number was retired baseball-wide in 1997. Mariano Rivera of the Yankees was the last player still wearing No. 42 every day when he retired in 2013.
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www.nytimes.com

Bill Russell’s No. 6 Joins Rare Class of Retired Jersey Numbers

Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Seems like a nice honor but I'm not sure I get it. Jackie Robinson transcended the sport. Not enough of a hockey fan to make an argument either way about Gretzky. Just know that he is by far the most famous name from the sport.
 
 
Yappi said:
Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.


www.nytimes.com

Bill Russell’s No. 6 Joins Rare Class of Retired Jersey Numbers

Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Seems like a nice honor but I'm not sure I get it. Jackie Robinson transcended the sport. Not enough of a hockey fan to make an argument either way about Gretzky. Just know that he is by far the most famous name from the sport.
Click to expand...
Titles…Russell’s team won every championship determining game he ever played in…NCAA, Olympics, NBA…21-0, I think.

And the kind of man he was…
 
Yappi said:
Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.


www.nytimes.com

Bill Russell’s No. 6 Joins Rare Class of Retired Jersey Numbers

Just three sports icons have had their jersey numbers retired leaguewide. Russell, the N.B.A.’s Boston Celtics legend, is the latest.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Seems like a nice honor but I'm not sure I get it. Jackie Robinson transcended the sport. Not enough of a hockey fan to make an argument either way about Gretzky. Just know that he is by far the most famous name from the sport.
Click to expand...

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Like Jackie Robinson, isn't this more to do about honoring black athletes? I mean Bill Russell last played in the NBA in 1969, 53 years ago. I would have thought that if you wanted to retire his number, he would had been worthy of that say, 20 years ago?
Personally I think it's a bad idea for leagues to retire numbers. Teams yes, leagues no.
 
14Red said:
Personally I think it's a bad idea for leagues to retire numbers. Teams yes, leagues no.
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Agreed. I just don't normally understand retiring a number league wide. Jackie Robinson is the one exception that I can get behind.
 
Yappi said:
Agreed. I just don't normally understand retiring a number league wide. Jackie Robinson is the one exception that I can get behind.
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Jackie Robinson played for one team? Retire his number from the Dodgers and that's fine. I just think this was more about PC than anything else.
 
What 14Red’s trying to say is the only reason Jackie Robinson’s number is retired was because he’s black and he doesn’t agree with that. I’m not sure we were PC in 1997
 
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