Question In the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated, they have a photo essay of the Lakers/Celtics rivalry. In it is a picture of the Bill Russell era Celtics playing the Elgin Baylor era Lakers. In the picture, Bill Russell is wearing a jersey that reads "CELTICS" across the chest, while all of Russell's teammates (looks like Tom Sanders is one of them) are wearing jerseys that read "BOSTON" across the chest. I remember seeing examples of this from that Russell Celtics era. Judging from the uniforms in the picture, I'm guessing this particular one is from the '68 Finals.
So what's up with that? Was that something Bill Russell did as the captain?
Answer Hi, Matt,
I am sure that Russell did not wear that particular jersey in the 1968 Finals because he was the team captain, or the head coach. In my archive I have a photo of Bill on April 19, 1968 while being congratulated by Sixers' coach Alex Hannum after the dramatic comeback which brought Boston back to the Finals, and the Celtics legend is wearing a huge smile and a green jersey which reads "CELTICS" across the chest. So, if you ask me, I am rather inclined to think that the fact you pointed out is an aberration, as if something weird had like - I am just speculating - Russell had forgotten to bring L.A. (or had lost) the new set of jerseys and had to play with his old "BOSTON" glory.
