BOSTON — When Bill Russell passed away before the 2022-2023 NBA season, the league went to unprecedented lengths to honor the 11-time champion and civil rights icon; retiring his iconic No. 6 for all 30 teams.
A longtime member of one of the Celtics’ bitter rivals recently admitted he was agitated by the move, at least right before the heat of battle.
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo recounted one of longtime captain Udonis Haslem’s pregame speeches on an episode of the “The OGs Show” podcast hosted by Haslem and fellow Heat champion Mike Miller.
“We playing Boston, so you know his feel on that” Adebayo detailed. “We in the huddle. Cap come in there, he gives his pregame speech and you know they retired Bill Russell’s jersey for everybody. So they got 6 in our rafters. And he end his pregame speech like, ‘*expletive* Bill Russell, too.’”
Haslem expanded on his words and admitted he had to “repent” for the comments.
“I love Bill. No disrespect to Bill. I love you. He just caught that stray. 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,” Haslem said.
While not as storied a matchup as their cross-country rivals in Los Angeles, Boston and Miami have been frequent playoff foes over the past decade and a half. The Celtics and Heat have met in the playoffs six different times since 2010, four times for the Eastern Conference crown.
Haslem, who spent each of his 20 seasons in Miami, knows how heated the battle between Causeway Street and South Beach can get.
“The *expletive* that come out them people to us when we playing there? I might not take back what I said now that I think about it,” Haslem added.
A Hall of Famer, five-time Most Valuable Player and 12-time All-Star, Russell in 1980 was voted the greatest player in NBA history by basketball writers. He remains the sport’s most decorated champion — he also won two college titles and an Olympic gold medal — and an archetype of selflessness who won with defense and rebounding while others racked up gaudy scoring totals.
The 11-time champ wasn’t just a towering force in the paint, but a fierce driver of social change; marching with Dr. King, leading boycotts in the NBA over racist practices and speaking out against segregation.
In 2011, Obama awarded Russell the Medal of Freedom alongside Congressman John Lewis, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and baseball great Stan Musial.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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