Bill Russell, the NBA legend, is dead
Bill Russell died on Sunday. Athletes in all sports are racing to pay tribute. And they’re all tweeting about the great example Russell set off the court.
He took part in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and was seated in the front row of the crowd to hear the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
He was among a group of prominent Black athletes who supported Muhammad Ali when Ali refused induction into the armed forces during the Vietnam War.
(The New York Times, July 31, 2022)
Michael Jordan’s self-serving tribute
These tributes raise the question: Why aren’t these athletes following Russell’s example? And, more than any other athlete, this question applies to Michael Jordan.
Jordan is commending Russell’s legacy as a social and political activist. But that legacy has nothing to do with basketball.
Of course, when it comes to basketball, Jordan’s legacy is undeniable. He’s the GOAT. But even he did not come close to matching Russell’s achievements in basketball.
After all, Russell won 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. And he won the final two while also serving as the first Black head coach in a major American sports league.
By contrast, Jordan won only 6 NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. And he didn’t even serve as an assistant coach for any of them.
More to the point, I fear Jordan’s legacy off the court remains damaged beyond repair. And, to appreciate why, you need only consider this juxtaposition:
Jordan refused to endorse a Black man for Senate (from his own home state of North Carolina) in 1990. He did so because he feared losing a few dollars in sneaker sales. Russell refused to play in a game (in Kentucky) in 1961. He did so because he wanted to protest a restaurant that refused to serve his black Celtics teammates.
So Jordan sided with White people who bought his sneakers over Black people who sought his support. He will never live that down.
- But Jordan was more interested in selling branded sneakers than seeking racial justice.
That, I predict, will be a line in the first paragraph of Jordan’s obit. Even now, he’s prioritizing his self-interest above all else. That was evident even in the photo he chose to pay tribute to Russell. Because it features Russell looking like he’s paying homage to Jordan.
LeBron James’s hypocritical tribute
Meanwhile, Lebron James is emulating both: He engages in social and political activism like Russell. But he also shuns it like Jordan.
For example, James championed the Black Lives Matter movement. But he refused to condemn China for perpetrating genocide against minority Uyghurs. And only greed for access to China’s lucrative market explains the difference. The fate of the persecuted Uyghurs be damned.
Colin Kaepernick is most like Bill
The media covering tributes to Russell reeks of irony and hypocrisy. Colin Kaepernick is hovering over that coverage like a black cloud.
After all, his activism off the court matches Russell’s more closely than any other athlete’s. Indeed, Russell himself drew criticism from the very media hailing him today for declaring, “I’m with Kap.” He was protesting the way the media were still blackballing Kaepernick. All because he echoed Russell’s famous protest by kneeling during the National Anthem.
So you’d be hard-pressed to hear or find any mention of Kaepernick among the media tributes to Russell. Just sayin’.