Basketball On The Internet.

THE NBA's announcement today that it would honour the legacy of 11-time champion and civil rights activist Bill Russell by retiring his #6 singlet across the 30-team league is a wonderful gesture, but surely one it should have initiated before the great man's death last month.

In addition to retiring his uniform number, the league further will celebrate the Boston Celtics legend with commemorative patches on uniforms and a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on each NBA court through the 2022-23 season.

Again, these were measures of respect for him he deserved to experience while still alive.

Russell won the NBA's MVP award five times and is an 11-time NBA champion and civil rights pioneer. He joins baseball icon Jackie Robinson (No. 42) and ice hockey megastar Wayne Gretzky (No. 99) as the only players to have their jersey numbers retired by the major American professional sports leagues.

He wore the No. 6 throughout his entire 13-season career from 1956-69 and it will not be issued again by any NBA team to any player.

A small caveat does exist though, allowing for those players currently wearing the #6 - such as  Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and the Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis — to retain it.

But it will then not be reissued.

"Bill Russell's unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honoured in a unique and historic way," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

"Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill's transcendent career will always be recognised."

Former US President Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

He is at the head of the line as the most successful pro sportman in history, revolutionising the game with his defensive prowess.

Russell also boasts the most amazing career of any player in team sports, winning two straight NCAA Championships at the University of San Francisco - where he also was a two-time All-American - and leading the USA to the Gold Medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

During his 13 years in Boston, he carried the Celtics to the NBA Finals 12 times for 11 titles, the last two won while he was both a player and coach, making him the NBA's first black coach.

His duels with Wilt Chamberlain were the stuff of legend, their friendship also one of the sport's most enduring.

They can kick back and laugh about old times once more. Russell passed away on July 31 at 88.