Bill Russell played a major role in making the Celtics-Lakers rivalry one of the greatest in all of sports, but the Boston legend put that aside on Sunday to pay tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers hosted the Celtics on Sunday, which was the first time the two teams met since Bryant, Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter and seven other people tragically died in a helicopter crash last month. Russell was in attendance for the game, and he arrived at Staples Center wearing Kobe’s No. 24 jersey.
Bill Russell wearing purple and gold in honor of Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/PiI2GloYn0
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 23, 2020
Russell is not the first rival to put basketball aside in order to honor Bryant and his daughter Gianna, but the image of an NBA icon who won 11 championships with the Celtics wearing a Lakers jersey is quite powerful. While we expected nothing less from Russell, it was still great to see.
