Udonis Haslem said ‘f*** Bill Russell’ in response to the NBA’s decision to retire his jersey

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Udonis Haslem said ‘f*** Bill Russell’ in response to the NBA’s decision to retire his jersey

Posted By: jasabacklink December 27, 2023

Celtics

“I respect Bill Russell, I love him but why the [expletive] does he have to hang in here?”

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky


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Bill Russell’s No. 6 jersey was retired by every NBA franchise after he died in 2022.

Russell even has a jersey hanging in the rafters of the Kaseya Center, which is home to the Miami Heat.

Udonis Haslem, who played 20 seasons with the Heat, took an issue with this. He made a vulgar comment about Russell during a pregame speech.

“We’re playing Boston, so you know his feelings,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said during an appearance on The OG Podcast, which is hosted by Haslem and Mike Miller. “We’re in the huddle. and you know, [Haslem] comes in there and gives a pregame speech and you know they retired Bill Russell’s jersey for everybody in the league.”

“So, they’ve got ‘6’ in our rafters and he ends his pregame speech like, f*** Bill Russell too. I said, bro, this man is dead, OG.”

“Tell me when you’re going to see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in Boston,” Haslem responded.

Haslem did not mince words when explaining his comments to Adebayo.

“I had to repent that. I love Bill,” Haslem said. “No disrespect to Bill. I love Bill, it’s just, he caught that stray … I respect Bill Russell, I love him but why the f*** does he have to hang in here? The s*** that comes out of them people’s mouths to us when we were playing there?

“I might not take back what I said, now that I think about it, the s*** that they said to us.”

Along with his 13 championships and status as the NBA’s first Black head coach, Russell’s “pioneering” civil rights activism was one of the reasons the NBA chose to honor Russell uniquely, commissioner Adam Silver said at the time.

“This is a momentous honor reserved for one of the greatest champions to ever play the game,” NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio said then.  “Bill’s actions on and off the court throughout his life helped to shape generations of players for the better and for that, we are forever grateful.  We are proud to continue the celebration of his life and legacy alongside the league.”