Tributes show Muhammad Ali's impact on society

The passing of Muhammad Ali continues to weigh heavily on those saluting the three-time world heavyweight champion's impact on society as a humanitarian.

Eleven-time NBA champion Bill Russell released a statement Sunday morning:

"It's difficult for me to talk about my friend because real friendship is private. Muhammad Ali knew how to be a friend and that's one of the hardest things to come by. I met him when he returned from the Olympics in 1960. I invited him to my house, which I used to do for all of the Olympic gold medalists that I knew. We shared that experience. He knew how to be a friend and I'll never forget that about him. His friendship meant a great deal to me."

Ali's funeral will be held Friday in his hometown of Louisville, Ky., and will be preceded by a public procession.

The sports icon died Friday night because of septic shock from unspecified natural causes at a Scottsdale, Ariz., hospital not far from his home. He was 74.

Ali spent the last hour of his life surrounded by his family after initially being hospitalized on Monday.

Ali, who retired from boxing in 1981, had battled Parkinson's disease since being diagnosed in 1984 at age 42.

The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers remembered Ali while preparing for Sunday night's Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Cavaliers star LeBron James referred to Ali as "the first icon" and "The Greatest of All Time."

"We knew how great of a boxer he was, but I think that was only 20 percent of what made him as great as he was," James told reporters before Saturday's practice. "(He) basically had to give up a belt and (relinquish) everything that he had done because of what he believed in and ended up in jail because of his beliefs. It's a guy who stood up for so many different things throughout the times where it was so difficult for African-Americans to even walk in the streets.

"For an athlete like myself today, without Muhammad Ali, I wouldn't be sitting up here talking in front of you guys. I wouldn't be able to walk in restaurants. I wouldn't be able to go anywhere where blacks weren't allowed back in those days because of guys like Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Lew Alcindor, Jackie Robinson, and the list goes on and on."

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said Ali was the "first guy I idolized growing up."

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it," said Lue, reciting his grandfather's favorite Ali quote. "Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

Before their practice at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, the Warriors played a 1970s' song about Ali, "Black Superman."

"Ali was the example of how you use your platform and speak what you believe no matter what people will say," Warriors star Stephen Curry said. "(Players) look at him as a sense of confidence in that regard, for sure."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said: "What he did not just for African-Americans, but for all Americans in terms of trying to promote equality, in terms of really raising the level of consciousness about what was happening in the country, (he's) probably the most influential athlete in the history of our country."

Thousands of tributes continue to pour in across the world.

Alabama coach Nick Saban remembered the legendary boxer's impact on his life growing up in West Virginia.

"I was an Ali fan in every fight he ever fought," Saban, who used to huddle around the car radio as a kid to hear Ali's fights, told ESPN. "When you lose these people it's a little bit sad because they are a little piece of your life."

Saban said he has often referenced Ali to his Crimson Tide teams.

"But I guess we have to have a lot of gratitude for the fact that we still have the memories, even though they don't live on, for the accomplishments, and I think it's important we pass it along to the younger generations," Saban said.

Jim Brown, Pro Football Hall of Fame running back with the Cleveland Browns, heard the news of Ali's death late Friday night.

"This is [the passing of] an American hero," Brown told the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Saturday. "He pushed the buttons. He stood up for what he believed. He was a great champion, a great American and a great friend."

Brown said he last saw Ali last fall in Louisville at the Muhammad Ali Center.

"He'd been sick a long time," Brown said. "I just always hoped he wasn't suffering. When we were in Louisville a few months ago, his wife Lonnie was doing a tremendous job with him. It was different seeing him (with Parkinson's) because we're so used to the bravado of Ali and the intelligence. We're used to the physicality and the quickness and everything associated with him. But I'll always think of Lonnie and the job she did."