NBA Great Bill Russell Backs Colonia Boy's Anti-Racism Petition

COLONIA, NJ — A local boy who is seeking to end racism got the backing of one of the NBA's most legendary players recently.

Brady Timinski, 7, of Colonia, was featured in a Twitter video shared by his mother asking for others to join his effort in fighting racism and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

"After watching a documentary about the Lakers & Celtics rivalry in the 60s and seeing how poorly players like Bill Russell were treated, Brady (on his own) made this petition and is asking for support to stop racism," his mother wrote in the video post. "His goal is 100 signatures."

And Russell himself caught wind of Brady's effort.

The 86-year-old NBA great — who played for the Boston Celtics and went on to coach the team, becoming the first black man to coach a major league sports team, as well as the Seattle Supersonics and the Sacramento Kings, and has too many accolades to list — tweeted out his support for Brady.

Sign me up Brady! I have great Hope for our future with smart guys like you leading the way. Please join me and sign Brady’s petition #BlackLivesMatter @NBA @BostonGlobe @SLAMonline @MSNBC @CNN https://t.co/rPKZqW9oyG
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) June" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/RealBillRu... 19, 2020

"Brady I wanted to make sure you saw I was one of the first to sign your petition," he said in response to Brady's video. "Thank you for doing this it will make a difference your parents should be very proud of you as am I. Keep up the good work. We have a bright future with kids like you taking action."

Russell not only was a legend on the court, but he was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement.