Bill Russell is the GOAT

[TobyTyler]

Though great in his time, Russell would not even be able to play the Center position in today's game.

 

[_Xer0_]

And here I had always thought that Leclown was Botslayer's pick for "World's Greatest Player." I could deal with Bill Russell but no way Leflop is the GOAT.

Russell is nowhere near being the greatest of all time, the only players deserving of that title are Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabaar because of their dominance and impact on both ends of the floor.

nobody ever considers Russell a dominant player, he just had the best teammates.

 

[_Xer0_]

Not in the Playoffs / Finals he isn't/wasn't... you know, when it matters most.

his numbers dipped because entire teams geared up to stop Wilt, yet he still put up 22.5 points, 24.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists on .522 from the field.

 

[_Xer0_]

Who's Wilt Russell?

i don't know?

i never said there was a player named Wilt Russell.

 

[HammerDown]

And here I had always thought that Leclown was Botslayer's pick for "World's Greatest Player." I could deal with Bill Russell but no way Leflop is the GOAT.

If Bill Russell had to defend LeBron, he'd leave in tears out the back door at halftime.

 

[Shanemansj13]

This thread is still going on.

Russell isn't even a baby goat.

 

[_Xer0_]

If Bill Russell had to defend LeBron, he'd leave in tears out the back door at halftime.

i guess so, especially if LeBron would be able to get with his usual stuff like travelling, palming the ball, crab dribble etc.

 

[Brahmsian]

Though great in his time, Russell would not even be able to play the Center position in today's game.

Russell would find a way. How, I don't know but outsmarting bigger people was something he was always good at.

 

[Brahmsian]

If Bill Russell had to defend LeBron, he'd leave in tears out the back door at halftime.

LeWrong would be the one leaving in tears!

 

[TheDangerousKitchen]

his numbers dipped because entire teams geared up to stop Wilt, yet he still put up 22.5 points, 24.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists on .522 from the field.

Impressive numbers for sure; however Jordan is universally regarded as THE greatest / most dominating Playoffs / Finals performers of all time... and justifiably so.

 

[TheDangerousKitchen]

If Bill Russell had to defend LeBron, he'd leave in tears out the back door at halftime.

I'm not sure how the game was called in the 60's; however nowadays (in the "zero-contact" era) Russell would get whistled just for breathing on LeBron... so in your statement "context" is everything.

 

[geneh_33]

Russell is nowhere near being the greatest of all time, the only players deserving of that title are Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabaar because of their dominance and impact on both ends of the floor.

nobody ever considers Russell a dominant player, he just had the best teammates.

How ironic. You just described Leclown to a tee.

 

[geneh_33]

If Bill Russell had to defend LeBron, he'd leave in tears out the back door at halftime.

Lebron would be lucky to score one point against Russell

Russell might laugh himself to death at Leclown's flopping ability.

 

[geneh_33]

Impressive numbers for sure; however Jordan is universally regarded as THE greatest / most dominating Playoffs / Finals performers of all time... and justifiably so.

 

[Brahmsian]

nobody ever considers Russell a dominant player, he just had the best teammates.

Try telling that to Russell's teammates.

Laughter would probably be the politest response you'd get from any of them.

Something along the lines of "You're an idiot!" would be more frequent I suspect.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

GOAT?

These debates are so often done with stats, which should be a component, but maybe not the primary one.

Early 50s...missed the early prime of these guys, but I saw the end of Russell's career and remember back to the b&w tv era a little as a young kid...also the end of Chamberlin, and obviously Kareem in the entirety. I think you have to put Shaq in the room, but I'm hardpressed to say who was the best of this group.

GOAT...MJ was the best two way basketball player ever imo...and it's not really close in my mind...LeBron maybe the most physically gifted player the game has seen and he might surpass MJ, but he's still working on the painting.

Russell...imo the reason he's a few notches down my goat list was he had such great supporting cast that he was able to focus on being a defender, rebounder, and initiating the vaunted fastbreak....I hate to use this analogy because I'm not comparing players, but he really was more of a role player in the vein of Rodman...but BOS was a well oiled machine and they won so many titles with him in that role that it's hard to not have Russell in the conversation.

My GOAT team by position.

1 - Magic
2 - MJ
3 - Bird
4 - Malone
5 - Shaq...(I'm a long time LAL fan and really loved Kareem's game, but...)

 

[Lone Granger]

GOAT = Larry Bird

 

[BOTSLAYER]

GOAT = Larry Bird

He might be but execs not on the court.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

GOAT = Larry Bird

Bird would make the 3 spot in my GOAT team so I fully respect his game, but defense takes him out of the running for overall goat.

 

[_Xer0_]

Impressive numbers for sure; however Jordan is universally regarded as THE greatest / most dominating Playoffs / Finals performers of all time... and justifiably so.

Michael Jordan couldn't ever dream of having the impact of Wilt Chamberlain, who was a dominating rim protector, rebounder, scorer, and an excellent passer.

the league had to change the rules because Wilt was so dominant, with Jordan the rule changes were made to make things easier for him, and he had the refs in his back pocket his entire career.

I have Wilt, Kareem, Magic over Jordan. All 3 were better basketball players.

Jordan was great but didn't have the offensive and defensive impact of Wilt Chamberlain.