Bill Russell’s one-finger salute to Charles Barkley at Monday’s NBA Awards hardly went unnoticed.
Presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Oscar Robertson, Barkley thanked a slew of league legends in attendance, including Russell. As the camera panned to the former Celtic, he let a hand gesture speak for itself.
“Sorry everyone, I forgot it was live TV & I can’t help myself whenever I see Charles it just is pure instinct,” Russell, 84, tweeted.
Though the Twitterverse dubbed Russell the night’s MVP, top honors ultimately went to Rockets guard James Harden.
Russell was awarded league MVP five times throughout his career, an honor he shares with Michael Jordan. The only player to have more MVP honors is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with six.