Former President Barack Obama remembered the late basketball great Bill Russell on Sunday, noting that he "learned so much from the way he played, the way he coached, and the way he lived his life."
The big picture: The 11-time NBA champion died on Sunday at the age of 88, according to a statement posted on Twitter.
- Russell also won two NCAA championships and an Olympic gold medal. He served as the first Black head coach of a North American professional sports team and won two more NBA championships as coach.
What he's saying: "Today, we lost a giant," Obama wrote in a tweet. "As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher—both as a player and as a person." ...
- "Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead," Obama said. "On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. Off of it, he was a civil rights trailblazer—marching with Dr. King and standing with Muhammad Ali."
- Russell participated in the 1963 March on Washington and sat front row as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, per The New York Times. He also supported Muhammad Ali when he refused to join the Army during the Vietnam War.
- Obama presented Russell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010.