Bill Russell is the GOAT

[HammerDown]

Russell was no egomaniac and saying good things about your teammates is generally considered part of being a good teammate yourself.

I doubt Wilt ever called any of his teammates more valuable than himself. He, as near as I can tell, WAS an egomaniac.

Completely irrelevant.

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

But your arguments are fact?

Red was the constant. Russell wasn't even the best player on his team and says as much.

Russell was modest in some ways, I am trying to remember what fellow Celtic announced his retirement Russell's last year prompting him to keep quiet about his own plans to leave the game?

 

[_Xer0_]

People don't like to admit it but Russell was much more like a taller Ben Wallace, he was a defence first guy because he was not really good offensively so to his credit he played to his strengths. i mean the guy was a Center and shot .440 from the field for his career.

Wilt could do anything on the court, if you needed scoring he would score (scored 50 points a game in 1961-1962), passing he would pass (he led the NBA in Assists in 1967-1968 at 8.6). As we know he was also a dominant rebounder and shot blocker.

Entire teams were geared to stop Wilt and he still dominated and put up huge numbers, Russell never commanded any attention because they had to worry about stopping all of his HoF teammates.

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

NBA.com: Bill Russell Bio

Seems my opinions converge with some.

 

[HammerDown]

NBA.com: Bill Russell Bio

Seems my opinions converge with some.

So do mine but opinions are still like assholes.

 

[HammerDown]

People don't like to admit it but Russell was much more like a taller Ben Wallace, he was a defence first guy because he was not really good offensively so to his credit he played to his strengths. i mean the guy was a Center and shot .440 from the field for his career.

Wilt could do anything on the court, if you needed scoring he would score (scored 50 points a game in 1961-1962), passing he would pass (he led the NBA in Assists in 1967-1968 at 8.6). As we know he was also a dominant rebounder and shot blocker.

Entire teams were geared to stop Wilt and he still dominated and put up huge numbers, Russell never commanded any attention because they had to worry about stopping all of his HoF teammates.

Except Russell was shorter than Wallace. Russell was 6'-7-3/4" without shoes, not the 6' 10" Red got him listed at. Wilt towered over (and dominated) Russell.

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

So do mine but opinions are still like assholes.

Seems we do have something in common.

 

[_Xer0_]

Except Russell was shorter than Wallace. Russell was 6'-7-3/4" without shoes, not the 6' 10" Red got him listed at. Wilt towered over (and dominated) Russell.

alot of people seem to agree that Ben Wallace was 6-6 6-7, his afro made him look taller than he really was.

 

[_Xer0_]

Paul Pierce is 6-6 to 6-7 and Russell looks like he has a couple of inches on him which would make him 6-8 6-9.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

He totally dominated Bill Russell his entire career, which Russell freely admits to this day.

I have never seen Russell say that Wilt dominated him. I have read that he said Wilt was more physically gifted.

"The first time we played, I realized he was bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, more athletic than me, so it was going to take some kind of plan just to survive. Later on there was the night that he set the NBA record by getting 55 rebounds against us. As we used to say back then about the Houston police: He was kicking asses and taking names. And you know he did that a lot."

Two giants: Russell, Wilt scrapped on court, laughed off it | NBA.com

Ehhhhhh, I dont know HD. MJ was incredibly sound on D, his offense was FARRR from funadmentally sound. The man palmed/traveled with the ball 75% of his possessions he touched it. Granted the refs never called it because he was MJ but doesnt mean it didnt happen. It BLOWS MY MIND that the guy who is probably one of only 3 players to have a legit argument as GOAT has been brought up like 2 times on this entire thread. MJ, Magic and Big O are without a doubt the 3 greatest players in NBA history when it comes to all phases of the game. Id put Magic 3rd because his D lacks when compared with the other 2 but it really is semantics when debating MJ and Big O. I lean towards Robertson because his ENTIRE game was much more complete but he also only won 1 ring but if someone can tell me Peyton Manning is the greatest QB of all time with his one ring then I can say Oscar is the greatest of all time with his 1 too

The difference is that in the NFL there are 21 other players rather than 4 and in the NFL the players have even less control over their teammates than in the NBA.

 

[Clayton]

Kareem really gets underrated in these all time discussions

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

He also said he slept with 20,000 different women.

My count is probably under 600. Guess I have been more selective.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

@Bill Russell is short not sure why that even matters, he accomplished what he did whther he was 6' 10" or 5' nothing. To actually respond to this people shrink an average of a half inch every 10 years after the age of 40. After 70 it is progressively faster. That is for average size people, I think taller people would shrink more but we will disregard that.

Russell was born in 1934 so he would have been 74 in that picture. That is 1.5 inches he has probably shrunk til he was 70.

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

@Bill Russell is short not sure why that even matters, he accomplished what he did whther he was 6' 10" or 5' nothing. To actually respond to this people shrink an average of a half inch every 10 years after the age of 40. After 70 it is progressively faster. That is for average size people, I think taller people would shrink more but we will disregard that.

Russell was born in 1934 so he would have been 74 in that picture. That is 1.5 inches he has probably shrunk til he was 70.

Interesting that Wilt is a spiderman (like me) while Russell seems to have a proportionate torso to leg ratio.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

I think it is safe to say Russell would be amazing in any era eve with out the advances in training, science and nutrition.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

I love those Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars.........I own a few pairs myself....lol

 

[_Xer0_]

I think it is safe to say Russell would be amazing in any era eve with out the advances in training, science and nutrition.

he would be a good defender i don't think anyone would dispute that. and his outlet passing would be good for getting transition baskets.

in this current era he wouldn't be nearly as dominant a rebounder and would be a worse scorer, he only shot .440 from the field vs. less athletic players.

Russell would be a Ben Wallace clone and that's actually a compliment since Wallace was an excellent team player.

 

[HammerDown]

I love those Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars.........I own a few pairs myself....lol

Yeah, it's really amazing what those guys did playing in canvas shoes back then. No doubt allot of injuries and wear & tear could have been avoided with today's basketball shoes, not to mention giving them another 2" in height.

 

[HammerDown]

he would be a good defender i don't think anyone would dispute that. and his outlet passing would be good for getting transition baskets.

in this current era he wouldn't be nearly as dominant a rebounder and would be a worse scorer, he only shot .440 from the field vs. less athletic players.

Russell would be a Ben Wallace clone and that's actually a compliment since Wallace was an excellent team player.

I think he'd be a mediocre defender and a good passer. But not enough to make a roster in the current NBA.

 

[rmilia1]

FG% was pretty shitty back in the day in large part because goaltending was legal. Imagine the shooting percentages guys today would have if you could swat the ball away at any time. Hell shooting 44% in that situation is impressive IMO. Guys in todays NBA would be hard pressed to shoot 30% from outside of 5 feet if you could just block a shot at anytime.