RIP Bill Russell!

One of the greatest of all time. Greats change the game.. and he turned the block shot into an offensive weapon. That's why be became the greatest champion of all time.

I was a big Celtic fan as a boy. Bill Russell set the standard for playing defense on the court and making progress off the court.

His voice will be sorely missed, but it is his big smile that is indelibly etched into the collective history of the game of basketball, from his college days at the University of San Francisco, to the record number of NBA Championships.

Aside from being a champion at the game, he was also a champion of social justice and he was successful at it whilst maintaining humility and dignity. Shortly after the killing of Medgar Evers, he led Mississippi's first integrated basketball camp. It was here that he was able to demonstrate through action, the colorblind society envisioned by MLK.

Standing at 6'10", he was a giant who towered over his peers on the court, but his giant was no less impressive as a righter of wrongs in the public sphere.