Many of us are still processing Sunday’s death of NBA icon Bill Russell at age 88. Tuesday afternoon afforded me an opportunity to do so in the audio realm after I had written two Russell pieces to tip off the week.
My longtime colleague and former Los Angeles Daily News teammate Gary Washburn. now starring for The Boston Globe, joined me for a Spotify Live session to talk all things Russell along with an assessment of the Celtics’ offseason — focused, naturally, on their status as a potential landing spot via trade for Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant.
Among the topics Gary and I covered:
🏀 As part of a multilayered discussion about various aspects of Russell’s legacy and his time in Boston, Gary told a wonderful story about a one-on-one interview he secured with Russell after the former Celtics star had not spoken to The Globe in years.
🏀 We tackled the idea of the NBA retiring No. 6 leaguewide in Russell’s honor.
🏀 I asked Gary, who has co-written a book with our pal Marc J. Spears on Spencer Haywood, to expound on the Russell-Haywood relationship from their time together as player and coach in Seattle.
🏀 Gary and I, as children of the 1970s, both loudly lamented how little NBA footage exists from our time as young fans … with far less available from Russell’s prime.
🏀 We talked about Jaylen Brown and the idea that the Celtics will have some fence-mending to do with Brown after reports that Boston has tried to trade him for Durant.
🏀 We assessed Brad Stevens’ first year (and change) as a front-office executive and the challenge presented by the potential Brown headache.
🏀 There may or may not have been some grumbling that the LADN did not send either of us to the All-Star Game in Cleveland in 1997; I was the paper’s Lakers beat writer at the time and Gary was covering the Clippers.
🏀 And we reflected on something I had forgotten: Gary covered Durant as a Sonics rookie when he was still writing in Seattle.
If you weren't able to join us live ... fear not. Enclosed is the recording to catch up at your leisure on everything we discussed.
