Bill Russell had a special impact on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that nobody knew the details of. In fact, there was a clear good friendship. However, Abdul-Jabbar wouldn't talk about it before. Until Russell's sudden death, the six-time NBA Champion wrote a whole article about it after his first impression of it.
"My thoughts about Bill Russell passing away…. I am working on an deeper thought provoking article tonight as I process what just happened." This message was posted on Abdul-Jabbar's account right after Russell's family posted about the 11-time NBA Champion's death.
Aftwards, he appeared on several ESPN segments to talk about his stories about Russell and related topics. Therefore, here it is a small summary of Abdul-Jabbar's special article on Bill Russell, his hero and his mentor.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's special article for Bill Russell
Jabbar's article is divided by topics or special episodes between these two former ballers. "My First Meeting with Bill Russell Went South Fast", "How Bill Russell Inspired Me as a Player", "How Bill Russell Inspired Me as an Activist" and "Me and Bill as Old Men."
All of these chapters are encounters between Jabbar and Russell in several points of their lives. "I first met Bill Russell in 1961, when I was a 14-year-old freshman at Power Memorial High School. I had just arrived at the school gym for team practice only to find the Boston Celtics practicing instead."
In between, Jabbar wrote about how Russell inspired him to be a better basketball player and better person overall. "He anticipated their move like a chess master, than sprang into the air to block them before they knew what was happening. He didn’t play one-size-fits-all defense, he customized his defense to fit each player."
"Bill was the most famous member of the summit, other than Jim Brown and Ali, but he never tried to leverage that to influence the rest of us. His approach was logical and dispassionate, encouraging us to listen with open minds to what Ali had to say." If you want to the read the full article, it's here.
