5 celebrities the late Bill Russell gave the middle finger to, including Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more

#3 Vince Carter

Vince Carter at the TOUR Championship - Preview Day 3

Vince Carter was one of the most recent victims of Russell's one-finger salute. A small interaction between Bill Russell and Sacramento Kings GM Vlade Divac during the Summer League led to an introduction with Carter.

As Carter got up out of his seat at the scorer's table, Russell greeted him with the finger that had spectators laughing.

Carter was seen laughing as he got back into his chair while Divac could barely contain his own.

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#4 Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups at a Portland Trailblazers game

Chauncey Billups was also indirectly a recipient of Bill Russell's one-finger salute. Although Russell didn't directly flip the bird to Billups, a picture of the two showed Russell flipping the cameraman off in a rather serious manner.

Billups posted the picture to his Instagram, captioning it:

“Paved the way for all of us that’s been blessed to play hoop for a living.”

The irony wasn't lost on Billups given the nature of the photo.

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#5 Dominique Wilkins

Dominique Wilkins (right) with Daniel Suarez

Dominique Wilkins was one of the premier forwards of the '80s. As an athletic big man of the highest caliber, Wilkins earned the nickname "The Human Highlight Reel".

But even the superstars were brought down to Earth in the presence of Bill Russell. Russell apparently flashed the middle finger towards Wilkins after locking eyes with him on the sidelines of the 2019 All-Star game.