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Bill Russell: Basketball icon spends night in Seattle hospital

By Alex Butler
Basketball legend Bill Russell watches the Seattle Seahawks during warmups at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. File photo by Jim Bryant/UPI
Basketball legend Bill Russell watches the Seattle Seahawks during warmups at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. File photo by Jim Bryant/UPI | License Photo

May 19 (UPI) -- Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell stayed overnight in a Seattle, Wash. hospital after suffering from dehydration.

He was released on Saturday.

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The 12-time All-Star, 11-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer responded to concerns voiced on social media on Saturday with a Twitter statement.

"Thank you everyone for the kind thoughts," Russell tweeted. "Yes I was taken to the hospital last night and as my wife likes to remind me I don't drink enough. On my way home and as most my friends know I don't have a heart to give me trouble."

Russell, 84, lives in Seattle. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that an ambulance was rushed to the home and took him to a nearby hospital on Friday night.

Russell was also hospitalized in 2014 after collapsing during a speaking appearance in Lake Tahoe, Nev., but quickly recovered.

The five-time NBA MVP was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Russell had two children. He played his entire 13-year NBA career with the Celtics.

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