Awesome moment at last night’s NBA Awards when a group of legendary NBA big men – David Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquile O’Neal, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning gave Bill Russell an NBA Lifetime Achievement Award. As the group of players were to give Russell his chain, the Boston great let all of the players know that he could still ‘kick their asses’ which was a beautiful moment for the NBA and its players.

Full clip of Bill Russell's glorious moment at #NBAAwards show.
Amazing. pic.twitter.com/kf4xLVXizH

— Wobsell Perezbrook🏆 (@World_Wide_Wob) June 27, 2017

Russell is perhaps the most iconic player in the NBA. I realize what Michael Jordan did and what LeBron James is doing, but consider this for a minute… Russell played in a city that didn’t love him very much, games were tape-delayed and he was the first-ever African-American head coach in the middle of the 60’s. If the 11-time NBA champion had the shine that players like Magic Johnson, Jordan and James had throughout their time in the NBA, he would be remembered very differently. Boston center is the godfather of the league because he ushered in the big man era.

It’s great to see the Boston legend still be a part of the NBA family.

Charlie.