PHOENIX – Bill Russell was never an NBA finals MVP.
Now the award is named after him.
Starting this year, the finals MVP will receive the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, commissioner David Stern announced on Saturday.
“This is one of my proudest moments in basketball, because I determined early in my career, the only important statistic in basketball is the final score,” Russell said.
Russell’s wife, Marilyn, recently died of cancer, and he was visibly moved as he accepted the honor.
“This is a bittersweet award,” Russell said. “I just lost my special person. But I wanted to thank my teammates because we played a team game quite well. I accept this for my team, and my team included our coach, Red Auerbach, and all my teammates over the years. This is quite flattering.” (AP)