Bill Russell‘s No. 6 will be retired throughout the league and another Hall of Famer, Alonzo Mourning, said it was much-deserved honor, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes.
“We still need to celebrate his name, because he paved the way during a time where he had to deal with so many different obstacles,” Mourning said. “Not just on the court, but off the court. He paved the way for all of us.”
Mourning and Jerry West were on stage at the Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony over the weekend to honor Russell before the Class of 2022 was inducted.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Pistons center Nerlens Noel‘s lawsuit against agent Rich Paul is headed to arbitration, Michael McCann of Sportico reports in a subscribers-only article. Noel sued Paul last August, alleging that the agent’s negotiating tactics during 2017 cost him a four-year, $70MM extension with Dallas.
- USA Basketball wound up with the bronze medal in the AmeriCup by defeating Canada 84-80 (Twitter link). Former NBA forward Gary Clark led the way with 18 points. Argentina, having defeated Team USA in the semifinals, earned the gold medal with a victory over Brazil.
- The G League Lakeland Magic acquired the returning player rights to forward Robert Baker from the Stockton Kings in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Baker, 24, appeared in 26 games with the Stockton Kings last season and one Summer League game with the Thunder.
Boy, oh boy!
Is there anything more pathetic than Noel suing Rich Paul?
You can’t blame others for your mistakes, just man up!!!
Don, he was a kid in his early 20s with very little structure around him, and his agent, who takes a hefty commission says “don’t worry kid, I’ve got this”… He definitely got f’d over and it’s right that his agent has to answer for it. Agents are about as worthy as landlords when it comes to respect, trust etc.
Noel was told he had another offer out there when he did not.
Rich Paul is so wrong for what he did there
I cant stand Rich Paul’s work M.O., but i don’t have the insight everyone else has. I dont know that the agent forced young Mr. Noel to refuse a contract after being told his whole life he was a star. I think personal accountability has got to play a part in every successful person’s life.