The San Antonio Spurs joined the basketball world on Sunday in mourning the passing of legendary former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell.
Russell died in Mercer Island, Washington at the age of 88, per an ESPN report that was ran by Houston ABC affiliate KTRK.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich led the Spurs in paying tribute to the Louisiana-born big man who was instrumental in guiding the storied National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise to the first 11 of its 17 world championships.
“He was a remarkable force, athlete and human,” Popovich said in a statement the Spurs shared on Twitter. “His smile and approach were magnetic . . . he was the ultimate winner.”
According to ESPN, winning was a part of Russell’s lengthy playing career since he matriculated at the University of San Francisco (USF) in California.
Aside from his well-known title runs with the Celtics, ESPN reported, the 6-foot-10 Russell had a pair of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships with USF and a gold medal he captured at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
The report said that Russell, who played for the Celtics from 1956 to 1969, averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists per game and tallied 21,620 career rebounds as a pro.
He was a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star selection – and up until Michael Jordan suited up for the Chicago Bulls – was widely considered the NBA’s greatest player.
Russell dabbled into coaching just before his playing days concluded, succeeding his mentor Red Auerbach.
He later coached the Seattle SuperSonics, who are now the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Sacramento Kings.
His No. 6 is among the dozens of numbers that hang at TD Garden, the Celtics’ home venue, and the NBA Finals MVP Award bears his name.
Russell was a two-time inductee into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, and off the court, a 2011 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS reported that Russell had a close relationship with Tim Duncan when the latter played for the Spurs from 1997 to 2016.
According to KENS, Russell divulged after San Antonio clinched its fourth overall NBA title in 2007 that Duncan, who went on to serve as an assistant coach to Popovich, was his favorite player.
Russell leaves behind a wife and three children.