Barack Obama mourns Bill Russell: “A giant goes.”

“On the court he was the greatest champion in basketball history.”

A great basketball fan, as well as a Chicago Bulls fan, former U.S. President Barack Obama was one of the first to make his condolences heard once he learned the news of the death of Bill Russell, the NBA legend who passed away at the age of 88. The politician, who had already had the opportunity to honor the basketball player in 2011-Russell was awarded the 2010 Medal of Freedom along with eleven other pioneers in sports, labor, politics, and the arts-thus remembered the most vncent player in the history of the game.

“We have lost a giant, because as tall as Bill Russell was, his legacy goes even higher, both as a player and as a person,” Obama began on Twitter. “Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and to be a leader. On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. Beyond that, he was a civil rights pioneer: marching with Dr. King and standing beside Mohammed Ali,” the former White House chief concluded.