SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Bill Russell says he's finally ready to become a Hall of Famer.
The eleven-time NBA champion, five-time MVP, Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion said on Twitter next Friday that he held a reunion at a private ceremony four decades after his appointment to the Shrine in Springfield, Massachusetts of Fame ring was presented.
Russell did not attend his induction ceremony in 1975. I do not deserve to be the first black player to be recorded. He tweeted: "I felt that others should have this honor before me."
In a private ceremony with my wife and close friends A.Mourning @AnnMeyers @billwalton and others, I accepted my #HOF ring. & # 39; 75 I refused to enter as the first black player in the @Hoophall . I felt that others should have this honor before me. Good to see, progress; ChuckCooperHOF1
9 @NBA pic.twitter.com/2FI5U7ThTg– TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) November 15, 2019
His tweet mentions Chuck Cooper, who was the first African American in 1950 by the NBA designed and added this year.
Russell says his wife, along with close friends and the Hall of Famers, Bill Walton, Ann Meyers, and Alonzo Mourning, attended the ceremony.
