Bill Russell, Boston Celtics legend, most decorated player and NBA’s first black coach, was bigger than basketball

If no one saw their number 6 hoisted to the ceiling of Boston Garden on March 13, 1972, it was because no one had been invited. Bill Russell had expressly requested that the jersey removal ceremony be organized in the anonymity of a pre-match, without an audience, without a camera, without a soul. The most successful athlete in the history of American sport did not want to be glorified, nor to confront his former fans, to whom he felt he owed nothing.