When it comes to why the NBA decided to globally retire the number of Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man Bill Russell after his passing this past July, it is not just his unmatched achievements on the basketball court that made up their minds to do so. A pivotal figure of the US Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s who kept up his humanitarian efforts right up to his death, Russell touched the lives of millions in ways too profound to easily grace the page in textual form.
