
The 2018 NBA Awards Show took place on Monday night. In the highlight of the night, 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell, now 84 years old, gave the finger to his fellow former player and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Here’s the video:
The next day, Barkley appeared on CBS Sports’ Jim Rome’s podcast and said the following about being flipped off by Russell:
“I thought it was one of the coolest things [that] ever happened to me. Because, you know, Bill’s a mentor, he’s like a father to me, and he does that to everybody. It meant a lot to me, because if you know Bill – well, I don’t even call him Bill – Mr. Russell, he is one of the best people ever, and I was laughing so hard, I almost couldn’t keep breathing.”
Barkley added that he thought it was “hilarious.”
Here’s the full episode of the Jim Rome Podcast featuring Charles Barkley:
Charles Barkley on Bill Russell's middle finger, a letter he wrote to Bill Laimbeer, and the grind of hosting Saturday Night Live.
Listen: https://t.co/ORGkoHSds9 pic.twitter.com/n5kZCgUtqJ
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) June 26, 2018