What Bill Russell Taught Me About Identity

One afternoon Bill Russell was walking down the street with a friend when a boy approached the 6’9 Hall of Famer. "Are you a basketball player?" he asked. Russell smiled and replied, “No," before the boy ran off. 

Moments later, Russell’s friend asked quizzically, “Bill, why did you lie to that boy?”

“I didn’t lie,” Russell said. “Basketball is what I do. It’s not who I am.”  

There is a difference.