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The honor shared by Jackie Robinson and Bill Russell

This Thursday afternoon, the NBA commissioner, Adam Silverrevealed something that many saw coming, the final withdrawal of the number 6 used by the historic Bill Russell with the Boston Celticsdue to his enormous legacy of 11 championships in 13 years, the most winning of all time.

Likewise, Russell made history by becoming the first African-American coach to coach in any American sports league, be it NBAMLB, or any other sport, while also being a tireless advocate for civil rights and social justice.

All these reasons, and many more, are enough for the league to decide that no other player will use his number again, with which he marked an era, being one of the greatest legends of American and international basketball.

Bond with Jackie Robinson

It should be noted that this is not the first time that something like this has happened, since the also legendary Jackie Robinson, professional baseball player, shares a bond with Russell, which will unite them even more as athletes, as well as social activists.

Robinson became the first African-American baseball player to enter the Major League Baseballbreaking the color barrier, becoming Rookie of the Year in his first season, and Most Valuable Player 2 years later.

Now both Bill Russell and Jackie Robinson have their numbers retired. Photo: AFP

He played practically his entire career for the Brooklyn Dodgerstoday from Los Angeles, where he was also a World Series champion in 1955, a one-time National League batting champion, a 2-time leader in stolen bases, and a 6-time All-Star.

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He was also a fighter for equal rights and the fight against discrimination, reasons that also earned him the MLB to withdraw his historic number 42 in 1997, a link that now also unites him with Russell, with whom he had a great relationship in life. .

I currently work as a web writer, specialized in NBA and NFL for Empresa EL DEBATE. I worked for 4 years and 5 months in the Sports section of the Printed Newspaper in Culiacán, covering various disciplines, being assigned to the source of Caballeros de Culiacán of CIBACOPA. I had the opportunity to cover the EL DEBATE Neighborhood Basketball Tournament for 3 years, one in Mazatlán, 2 in Culiacán, as well as the National War Bands in Los Mochis. In the same way, I was present at various openings and closings of sporting events of the Company. My passion is basketball, so I am constantly researching burst sports, especially the NBA, and have created special works on relevant topics. I covered the Culiacán International Marathon twice, one of the most important events at the local and state level. I am an avid reader, who likes to constantly improve myself, both personally and professionally. I successfully attended the Digital Sports Journalism Workshop at the University of Guadalajara sponsored by EL DEBATE.

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