China Mourns the Death of NBA Icon Bill Russell

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Bill Russell died Sunday at age 88. A Boston Celtics legend and the only NBA player to win 11 championships, he served as the first Black head coach of any professional U.S. sports team.

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Chinese NBA fans are mourning the loss of Russell. A related hashtag topped Weibo’s trending list and gained 270 million views within five hours.

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“RIP legendary Russell... May heaven also have the game of basketball, which you so dearly loved” — reads one popular post on Weibo

Basketball has a long history in China. The sport was introduced to the country only four years after it was invented in 1891.

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People in China have been practicing the sport ever since. Even WWII didn’t fully put the game on hold within the country.

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Thanks to the NBA, China reconnected with the world through basketball after its reopening in the ’80s. A highlight of the NBA’s relationship with China was the drafting of Yao Ming in 2002.

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Click ‘See More’ below for more of RADII’s coverage of the NBA in China.

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