Former U.S. President Barack Obama took a moment to create a video message in praise of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell on the eve of his second Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction. Obama joined the many voices honoring the basketball and civil rights giant for his accomplishments on the other side of the clipboard.
The University of San Francisco NCAA champion continued his unprecedented success as a player with the Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s, winning 11 titles in a dozen trips to the NBA Finals with Boston. In several of which, toward the end of that run, Russell served as a player-coach. The first Black head coach in modern major North American sports history, Russell faced battles on and off the court, which Obama noted.
Watch the clip embedded below to see his speech in honor of Russell’s second induction to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame yourself.
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