NBA, NBPA retiring Bill Russell's No. 6 across the league

Bill Russell's No. 6 jersey is being retired across the NBA.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association made the announcement Thursday, permanently retiring the number worn by the 11-time champion, civil rights activist and someone good enough to have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

Russell becomes the first player to have his number retired league wide.

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

The life and legacy of 11-time NBA champion and civil rights pioneer Bill Russell will be honored by retiring his uniform number, 6, throughout the league. The iconic Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer will be the first player to have his number retired across the NBA. <a href="https://t.co/OSVx02bQDl">pic.twitter.com/OSVx02bQDl</a>

Players who currently wear No. 6 — including the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James — may continue doing so. But the number cannot be issued again, the league said.

All NBA players will wear a patch on the right shoulder of their jerseys this season, the league said, and every NBA court will display a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on the sideline near the scorer's table.

Russell died on July 31 at the age of 88. He was the most prolific winner in NBA history, an 11-time champion during a 13-year career — winning the last two of those titles as a player-coach — and the first Black coach in any of the major U.S. pro sports to win a championship.

He marched with Martin Luther King Jr.,