Bill Russell returned Friday to see what he had become. He turns out to be bigger than he remembered and harder to elbow off the block.
"I'm almost at a loss for words,'' he said later in the day. "Almost.''
More than 43 years since he led the Celtics to the last of his 11 championships, Russell was recognized with a statue on City Hall Plaza. The idea is for other Boston legends to be honored with more statues over the years ahead, and they'll all be looking up to him.