BOSTON -- His opinions were as plentiful as his characteristic cackles. Bill Russell was back in Boston and, as he did in his playing days, made his presence felt.
It's been 30 years since he left the NBA with his 11th title in 13 seasons with the Celtics, but he still watches plenty of basketball -- as many as three games a day on television -- and doesn't like everything he sees."If I have a complaint, which I don't usually have because I like the game, I think the coaches are in charge, and so there is no creativity among the players, not very much anyway," he said Wednesday night before Boston's 108-87 win over Washington.
"I like to see creativity," he added. "I like to think when I was a young player I was very creative."
But the center known for his intensity and defense has been impressed with another aspect of the modern players' performances.
"It's amazing to watch people with that much money work that hard," he said.
Russell, who lives on the West Coast, made a rare appearance at a Celtics game to promote The Bill Russell Tribute scheduled for May 26 at the FleetCenter, adjacent to the site of the old Boston Garden and the team's home for the fourth year.
His No. 6 will be re-retired at an evening of entertainment, with a cast scheduled to include Bill Cosby, Aretha Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Wilt Chamberlain, Hank Aaron, Julius Erving and NBA commissioner David Stern.
That number originally was retired on March 12, 1972, with, as Russell desired, much less fanfare -- on a Sunday morning before any fans had entered for an afternoon game.
ELLIS OUT FOR SEASON: Atlanta Hawks forward LaPhonso Ellis will miss the reminder of the season due to what team officials called a "sports" hernia, having undergone exploratory surgery Tuesday night.
He is expected to be out for approximately 12 weeks. Because of injury, he had appeared in only 20 games this year, averaging 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.
The injury had forced Ellis to miss 15 previous games and was originally diagnosed as back spasms.
ROCKETS' PRICE ISN'T RIGHT: Houston Rockets backup guard Brent Price underwent knee surgery Wednesday, a day after being injured in a victory over Golden State.
Price, hampered by a variety of injuries during a five-year career, is expected to be out 3-4 weeks. Team physicians Walter Lowe and Bruce Moseley performed the arthroscopic procedure to repair a cartilage tear of the lateral meniscus in Price's right knee.