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Sports With Littlefield: NBA Honors Bill Russell, John McEnroe On Serena Williams

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Basketball player Bill Russell, right, signs the contract with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association at Boston Garden in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 19, 1956. Seated at left is Celtics co-owner and president Walter Brown, and standing behind him is co-owner Lou Pieri. Thomas J. Whalen says Brown blazed an integrationist path that transformed the NBA. (AP)
Basketball player Bill Russell, right, signs the contract with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association at Boston Garden in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 19, 1956. Seated at left is Celtics co-owner and president Walter Brown, and standing behind him is co-owner Lou Pieri. Thomas J. Whalen says Brown blazed an integrationist path that transformed the NBA. (AP)

In the first ever NBA awards ceremony on Monday, the league honored Celtics legend Bill Russell. Russell was the inaugural recipient of the league's lifetime achievement award, given to players for accomplishments on and off the court.

We talk about Russell's influence with Bill Littlefield. We also touch on the controversy started by John McEnroe when he told NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday that Serena Williams is the "best female player ever — no question," but that if she played in the men's circuit, "she'd be like 700 in the world."

Also, Bill tips his hat to Ichiro Suzuki, center fielder for the Miami Marlins.

Guest

Bill Littlefield, host of NPR's Only a Game, which tweets @onlyagamenpr.

This segment aired on June 28, 2017.

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