Bill Russell explains why he flipped off Charles Barkley

NBA legend Bill Russell provided us with the most talked about moment from Monday’s NBA Awards show.

Russell ended up flipping the bird to Charles Barkley as Chuck was presenting the lifetime achievement award to Oscar Robertson. While he was doing his presenting, Barkley shouted out some of the NBA greats who had an impact on him, and that’s when he mentioned Russell. In response, the former Boston Celtics center raised his middle finger.

So why did he do it?

“Sorry everyone, I forgot it was live TV & I can’t help myself whenever I see Charles it just is pure instinct,” Russell said on Twitter.

That’s OK, Bill. We all forgive you. And it’s not like people can’t understand the urge to flip off Barkley anyhow.