NBA legend Bill Russell made a strong statement on social media this week when he shared a photo of himself kneeling with the Presidential Medal of Freedom draped around his neck. The message was clear, but the 11-time NBA champion is willing to spell it out.
“I’m with them.”
In an interview with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, Russell explained that he wanted NFL players who are bringing their political demonstrations to the football field to know they have his support.
“What I wanted was to let those guys know I support them,” Russell said. “I wanted them to know they are not alone.”
Proud to take a knee, and to stand tall against social injustice." #takeaknee #medaloffreedom #NFL #BillRussell #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/1MhinoAcW7
— TheBillRussell (@BillRus73270016) September 25, 2017
When Russell was leading the Celtics to 11 NBA titles in 13 years, he was subjected to a great deal of racism and became a voice for social equality. That was 50 years ago, and the 83-year-old told MacMullan he is disturbed that minorities are still fighting the same battle today.
The photo had gotten more than 13,000 retweets by Wednesday afternoon, which came as a big surprise to someone who knows nothing about social media and doesn’t even have his Twitter account verified yet. Russell joked that he is still getting used to Twitter, but there’s nothing humorous about the message he is sending.
“There’s an old song I love called ‘You Never Walk Alone,'” he said. “The words I always remembered best from that were ‘When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark.’
“When I was heavily criticized for my stance (on social justice) — and you know I was — I would go to my records and put that song on and play it. At the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky … Just tell those NFL players, I’m with them.”
Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2011 for his efforts with social activism.
Protests were more widespread than ever across the NFL last week (you can see a roundup here) after Donald Trump encouraged team owners to fire any “son of a b—” who kneels during the anthem. We can expect more of the same in Week 5.
