Bill Russell, the greatest winner in the history of team sports and one of the most important athletes to ever live, died Sunday at 88.

He was a civil rights leader for the Boston area who reminded us of the progress the city has made on racial justice — and how much remains to be done.

• "Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo," a statement on his Twitter read Sunday.

The big picture: Russell also won two NCAA championships and an Olympic gold medal. He served as the first Black head coach of a North American professional sports team, and won two more NBA championships as a coach, Axios' Julia Shapero writes.

• "As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher — both as a player and as a person," former president Barack Obama posted.
• "If you can take something to levels that very few other people can reach, then what you’re doing becomes art," Russell told Sports Illustrated in a classic Frank Deford profile in 1999.

What he said: In summer 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests surged around the country, Russell wrote in the Boston Globe that he'd been waiting his "whole life for America to live up to that promise" in the Declaration of Independence that says all men are created equal.

• "We are living in strange times, but I’ve seen stranger," Russell wrote. "There’s the kind of strange that means uncommon or out of the ordinary ... Then there’s the kind of strange that means peculiar, perverse, uncomfortable and ill at ease. Now that’s the kind of strange I’ve known my whole life."

Axios Sports’ Kendall Baker reminds us that Russell was a "defensive savant" who revolutionized the game.

Learn more. And sign up for Axios Sports.

State legislators proved world-class procrastinators last night, reaching compromises on major policy priorities at the very last moment they legally could before the end of their formal session.

A few things they worked out while you were sleeping:

Mental health

Democrats in the House and Senate reached an agreement that would require health care providers and insurers to treat mental ailments on equal footing with physical ones.

• The plan calls for people to be able to get an annual mental health checkup similar to a physical exam, an expansion of the job training pipeline for mental health clinicians and improved access for emergency departments to psychiatric facilities.

Sports betting

Democrats also agreed to legalize betting on professional sports, making Massachusetts one of the last states on the East Coast to adopt wagering rules.

• The Senate leaders insisted that betting on college sports not be allowed.
• House leaders were wary of losing an estimated $30 million in tax revenue, but agreed at the last minute.

Tax relief

Tax breaks won't be coming any time soon, after leaders decided to table their tax rebate plan until later in the year.

• Lawmakers were thrown a massive curveball last week when they learned that record-setting state revenues would activate an obscure 1986 tax relief law requiring that almost $3 billion be rebated to taxpayers.
• Democrats were prepared to provide $500 million in tax breaks before they had to factor in the law and draw up a new plan.
• Leaders say they will try to unanimously pass a redrafted plan this fall.

Also in play

• Democrats managed to pass a bill to establish onsite consumption in cannabis dispensaries and reform how cannabis companies interact with host municipalities.
• Also passed is an $11 billion borrowing bill that would provide $400 million for critical safety fixes for the MBTA.
• The state's gun control laws will better align with the recent Supreme Court ruling limiting how local governments can prohibit firearms.

Between the lines: Because Democrats pushed the negotiations to the very final hours of the legislative calendar, they can't use their supermajority to override any of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's potential vetoes.

• Baker has the final word on all the new laws passed at the end of the session.
• Democrats can't address anything he changes until January, when they come back from recess.

Democrats might have saved a plan to use part of the state’s overwhelming budget surplus to expand health care subsidies for middle-class residents.

Catch up quick: Last week, Gov. Baker blocked an expansion of ConnectorCare, which subsidizes health care costs, in an amendment to the $52.7 billion budget.

• Baker says he wants to further study the program before expanding it.
• But lawmakers this weekend rejected his amendment and resurrected the expansion, which would take effect in June 2023.

Why it matters: Massachusetts residents see costs rising at every corner, from gas pumps to grocery stores to utility bills.

• Advocates say the program would offer lower premiums and deductibles, as well as other subsidies, to families who are struggling but make slightly too much to get health care assistance under the current rules.

Details: The program would change eligibility to cover a person making up to $68,000 a year or a family of four making $139,000 a year — an estimated 37,000 Massachusetts residents.

• Gorman Associates, which was contracted by the advocacy group Health Care For All to provide a cost analysis, projects that the expansion would cost $75 million a year.

Context: Massachusetts has billions to spend from surplus tax revenue, enhanced federal Medicaid reimbursements and aid from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Go deeper.

💼 Check out who’s hiring around Boston.

1. Supply Chain Project Coordinator at HireArt.
2. Associate Client Solutions Manager at Freeman Company.
3. Senior Coordinator, Events & Experiences at Fenway Sports Management Consulting & Events.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.  

Hiring? Post a job.

The Federal Transit Administration ordered "an immediate safety standdown" at the MBTA for workers who deal with out-of-service trains at the agency’s rail yards, days after a Red Line train rolled off the Braintree Station's yard onto the tracks. (Globe)

Authorities say a small Chinatown restaurant was a front for a big money-laundering ring, which also allegedly collected stolen gift cards. (Universal Hub)

Three teenagers were hospitalized after being shot at a party in Dorchester Saturday night. (WHDH)

A 160-foot wind turbine blade fell to the ground in Gloucester Saturday night. (Gloucester Times)

The New England Patriots are worth $5.9 billion, making them the third-most valuable NFL team, per Sportico’s annual NFL valuations list.

• The Patriots dropped a spot from last year, but maintained their lead over the New York Giants, valued at $5.7 billion, who fell to fourth.

Steph’s thought bubble: With $5.9 billion, you could buy more than 40 million Patriots game tickets at the average price of $147. That or pay for college a few times over.