Bill Russell

Welcome back to the “Greatest Ever” series as we continue with another topic on the NBA History.Although he’s one of the greatest players in the NBA History, if not the best overall, there are some myths surrounding the legendary Bill Russell.

They are often about the lack of competition, his lack of offensive greatness like the rest of his candidates for the honor of best ever candidate. The not so appreciated Bill gets dismissed because of those things.

In this article, i will address these myths and try to debunk them. So without further ado, let’s start!

1.Bill Russell Wasn’t A Good Offensive Player.

The biggest reason why Bill Russell gets dismissed from the Greatest Of All Time debates that he wasn’t a good offensive player, as he averaged 15.1 points in his career on 44% field goal percentage which isn’t of course good.

However, scoring isn’t the only thing in offense. There’s also passing, an aspect of the game in which he excels. Russell is not only one of the top passing big men of all time, but also one of the finest passers to step on a hardwood.

He has a career average of 4.4 dimes per average during the regular season. He gets better in the playoffs with an average of 4.8 while he manages to lead all twice in assists. In the Finals in which there are official assist numbers, he has 5.8 dimes in average.

He had one of the most sweetest outlet passes ever. He’d fire a pass for the easy finish after he created a fast brake chance with his rebounding or defense. In that way he contributed for the many points scored without even taking an attempt. Impressive, isn’t it?

Here’s even more amazing fact than that. After Cousy retired, the Celtics didn’t have a true point guard, the ball went to Bill Russell on almost every possession on the high post and he led his team mates for high scoring chances. Here are his stats

Russell’s Assists Averages After Cousy Retired

1963-64: 4.7

1964-65: 5.3

1965-66: 4.8

1966-67: 5.8

1967-68: 4.6

1968-69: 4.9

See what i mean? He ranked twice in the top 5 league leaders, while in the rest he was at worst top 10. Despite all of this, he still doesn’t get credit for being a very good offensive player even though he was a prolific passer from the center’s position.

Additionally, he improved on his field goal percentages during the post season and finals. I’ll point out the 1965 playoff performances in which he shot 52.7% from field and in the ’65 Finals he averaged 17.8 points on 70.2% FG, which is an all time record.

Also, there weren’t as many fouls as they are called today too. So, this means that Bill Russell was a productive and very good offensive player when you take all in things in consideration.

2.Bill Russell Was Great Because Of His Team Mates

Another huge reason why Bill Russell he gets overlooked in the GOAT debates, are his team mates. Many like to point out he played in a team full of Hall Of Fame players that carried him to success. Well, it’s not true.

The Celtics despite having one of the top point guards (Cousy), greatest shooters (Sharman) and other great offensive forces like Hondo, Heinsohn and Jones weren’t a force on offense as much as they should have been.

The team had an average ratings in the stats for offense. They won and dominated their opponents by being one of the best defensive teams of all time.

The cornerstone and anchor of the C’s was none other than Bill Russell, who was the biggest reason why the franchise captured eleven titles in thirteen years.

However, championships are a team accomplishments. Nobody can do it all. Bill’s supporting cast was more than solid to 1964, or even 1965. But how about when he didn’t have a good support?

As a player-coach he took over to lead Boston to success, with an aging roster that struggled with injuries. In their first year, they were finally beaten by the Sixers.

Next year they met again, but comeback from 3-1 to win the entire series with Russell leading to success. They’d beat the Lakers again and win the title.

Even when Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chammberlain played in one team, they couldn’t knock off Russell led Boston from winning the title. Amazing, isn’t it? It sure is.

Superstar players are the biggest reason why one franchise wins a title, but no one can win alone with a quality support from the other. Even Jordan, Magic and Bird needed one.

3.The NBA Wasn’t Competitive Back Then

Another reason why Bill Russell and the other superstars of the 60′s that get overlooked in the GOAT discussions is the competition of the league back then.

Although there were eight teams back then, the level of talent was as big as today if not bigger considering it was stuck in few franchises.

The Warriors had the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, Paul Arizin, Tom Gola etc during the first half of the 60′s. The St. Lois Hawks had Bob Pettit and Lenny Wilkens.

The stacked Philadelphia teams of the second half of that decade had Wilt (he played for multiple teams), Cunningham, Greer who were all part of the Hall Of Fame.

Let’s not forget the Lakers teams with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, plus the Royals with the Big O and Jerry Lucas. Not bad competition, isn’t it?

Also, you can throw in the up and coming New York Knicks that went on to win two titles in the 70′s and had the likes of Reed and Frazier in their roster.

So, in general, Russell faced a pretty good competition that is unfortunately underrated these days.

4.He couldn’t excel in other eras

Bill Russell is one those guys who was capable to play in any era. He was first of all, one of the physically most gifted players in the NBA History. He had nice athleticism, could jump high (former world champion), had higher reach than Kareem, underrated strength.

He was extremely mobile, versatile and quick for a center. Additionally, there wasn’t arguably a more smarter man to play professional basketball than him. He also had an overlooked mental edge, as he psyched and intimated his opponents in many ways.

Russell’s productiveness is more than obvious. He was a dominant defensive player, who excelled on the glass, was a productive offensive player, a guy who made everything around him better and a coaches’ player who never cared about stats.

He’d be just as equally good in any era. He had a lot of tools to work with and he knew to use them smartly. That’s why he’d excel in any decade. Oh, and about his lack of weight. He’d just go to a gym and add some muscle.

A great player could play at any time and he’s one of them.

 –Darko Mihajlovski

I start today a new special series called “Best Ever” in which i will point out the cases for some all time greats to be argued as the top player in the league’s history.

Although Michael Jordan is universally claimed to be the greatest basketball player to step on a hardwood (with good reasons), there’re other players who deserve to be called like that too.

The legend with whom, i will begin is Bill Russell.

The famous Celtics center of the 60′s is well respected by his opponents and among the older fans, who continued the dominance of the big men, en route revolutionized the NBA, added new dimensions to the game, accomplished much and did enough to earn his spot among the legends.

Without further ado, here are the ten reasons why Russell was the greatest player in the NBA History!

1.Defensive Dominance

Bill Russell was arguably the greatest defender in the NBA History. He revolutionized defensive concepts.His dominance on this side of the court were one of the keys for his team’s amazing success and proved you can be a superstar while dominating on the not so popular side.

He was one of the physically most gifted players of all time. He had terrific athleticism, could jump really high, had underrated strength, was extremely mobile and versatile center with a longer reach than Kareem.He knew to use his advantages well, because he was arguably the most smartest player to play the game.

Russell’s impact on defense was better than anyone else’s. He turned the Celtics from a high scoring team that averaged more than 130 points in average, to a defensive minded team in which he was the cornerstone.

He created many fast brakes with his abilities on the other end, he fired the perfect outlet passes and in that he launched scoring chances for his team mates. He contributed for the easy points without even making an attempt at the rim.

Bill created the fundamentals of the blocked shots. He was arguably the best shot blocker of any time. He mastered three things in order to stop so many shots:1)perfect timing, 2)not fouling the shooter and 3)blocked the shot so he could grab or his team to get the ball.

There wasn’t a more intimating presence on defense than him, ever. He intimated guys, forced them to shot badly, wasn’t fooled and he knew everyone’s favorite spot because he did an analyze on every player three months before he joined the NBA.

His team mates forced their opponents to switch on him, because he was that good in stopping them down. Also, he excelled in one on one defense. He was arguably the finest one on one stopper. He held the great Chamberlain below his averages, and so he did with other guys like Pettit etc.

2.Winning

Winning is one of the most important aspects of these kind of debates, and this is where Bill Russell excels more than anyone has ever excelled. He’s arguably the biggest winner in the NBA History.

Russell won eleven championship in the course of his thirteen year career. He was the cornerstone of arguably the greatest dynasty in sports history, the Boston Celtics, the franchise with the top amount of championship (11).

On his way to the titles, he led his team to wins over his opponents teams led by basketball legends like Wilt, West, Baylor, Pettit and so on. He delivered with amazing clutch performances, as he elevated himself in the post season, finals and in the crucial game sevens.

The Celtics never won a title, neither did came close to win it all until Bill arrived on scene. He worked hard to get to those titles and there’s no doubt that he was the biggest winner of all time.

3.Basketball IQ

There wasn’t arguably a more smarter person to play professional basketball than Bill Russell. His intelligence was off the charts. He took full advantage of it and turned it into success for multiple years.

He was known for using his advantages to beat his opponents. He understood the fundamentals of the game well too. He knew his opponents game because three months before he joined the NBA, he made analyzes on all the players.

Russell usually picked a good spot before he blocked a shot. He made quality plays all the times. He always made adjustments when it was needed.

Bill would even made some statements during the tough playoff series in which he gives impression to his opponents that they have done a good thing. So, yes, his high basketball IQ played a large role of why he was such a great player.

4.Mental Edge

Bill Russell had a bigger mental edge than anyone who has stepped on a basketball court, period. He was known for playing mind games with his opponents, often beating and psyching them like no else ever did.

He wrote a book during the ’66-67 season, in which he wrote how he used to beat his opponents with his psychological edge as he had three laws to that. They were called “Russell Laws” because he invented them.

Bill made adjustments in order how to stop the other team from winning against him, especially in playoff times. When you add his edge in terms of intelligence, he maximized his advantages and topped just about anyone.

5.Clutch Performance

Although he’s underrated in terms of coming in the clutch, Bill Russell was arguably the greatest clutch performer in the NBA History as his performances in all of the Game Seven he played through his career.

In those ten games, he has a perfect winning record of 10-0. Here are the stats from those those matches.

-19 points, 31 rebounds

-18 points, 32 rebounds

-22 points, 35 rebounds

-19 points, 22 rebounds

-30 points, 40 rebounds

-20 points, 24 rebounds

-15 points, 29 rebounds

-25 points, 32 rebounds

-12 points, 26 rebounds

-6 points, 21 rebounds

Overall Averages:18.6 points, 29.2 rebounds

Not bad isn’t it? He additionally elevated his play from the regular season in the playoffs and finals too. Here are some more stats about Russell.

Regular Season Averages:15.1 points, 22.5 boards, 4.4 assists, 44% FG, 56.1% FT

———-Playoff Averages:16.2 points, 24.9 boards, 4.7 assists, 43.0% FG, 60.3% FT

———-Finals Averages:16.1 points, 30.2 boards, 5.8 assists, N/A FG%, 53.1% FT

So, in general, Russell’s numbers elevate when it’s mattered most.

6.Team Superstar

“There are two types of superstars. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. But there’s another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that’s the type Russell was.”

This is a famous quote by Don Nelson in the interview on Boston Herald. Indeed, he’s right. Bill was the game’s first and arguably the first team superstar in the NBA History.

He was one of the rare legends who had a team first mindset. He never focused on statistics nor or records. His only focus was winning and that only. Russell excelled at making the others around him better.

It’s no wonder that many of his team mates are part in the Hall Of Fame. They didn’t carry him. It was the other way around. That’s why even guys like KC Jones who didn’t even average more than 10 points are now part of the Hall.

Like his former team mate Sanders say, Bill had such a mentality that he thought he should win every game he plays in, regardless with which team he played in.

He did all of the little things, dominated in the course of his illustrated career, made everyone around him better, excelled in the clutch and is now a well respected legend.

Other than that, he accomplished much and can be argued as the best ever in many categories. It’s a good reason why Russell was the greatest team superstar to step on a basketball hardwood.

7.Top One Club Man Ever

Nobody meant more to a franchise in the NBA History than Bill Russell. The Celtics weren’t a franchise who won a championship in the league before the legendary center arrived in town.

They were also a high scoring team with an offensive mentality as they were scoring more than 130+ points in average led by the likes of Sharman and Cousy. However, not even they could bring success for so long neither get to the Finals.

Bill Russell changed all of that. His domination on the defensive end, glass, his ability to create so many fast brakes and good offensive production in terms of mostly outlet passes made the key difference.

He made others around him better. That’s why there were a lot of Hall Of Fame players who built their legacy because of him. I know you will criticize Bill for his average abilities on offense, but this wasn’t true.

As John Havlicek stated in his book. When he was retired, Hondo stated that Russell’s passing lacked in the team because there wasn’t a great one on one player in those average offensively teams.

However, when he was playing, the Celtics weren’t scoring that many points and were never that terrific on offense. Instead, they were average. But, they won eleven titles during thirteen years in which Bill established as the cornerstone of the famous dynasty.

That’s why he was the greatest one club man of all time.

8.Accomplishments

Bill Russell has a nice filled career resume with lots of accomplishments. The most known of them is the fact that he won eleven titles, which is an all time record and a feat that might not be matched for long time.

Here is the list of his achievements

• 11× NBA Champion (1957, 1959–1966, 1968–1969)
• 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961–1963,1965)
• 12× NBA All-Star (1958–1969)
• 3× All-NBA First Team (1959, 1963, 1965)
• 8× All-NBA Second Team (1958, 1960–1962, 1964,1966–1968)
• NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969)
• NBA All-Star Game MVP (1963)
• NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
• NBA 35th Anniversary Team
• NBA 25th Anniversary Team
• #6 Retired by Boston Celtics

9.Leadership

Bill Russell was arguably the greatest leader in the NBA History. He was a team superstar who had only one thing on his mind and that was to win. He remains as the biggest winner of all time, possibly in sports history as well.

Russell was a coach of a floor himself too, who led by example, made everyone around him better and he never cared about individual achievements. His focus was to win and nobody did it better than him.

Also, his leadership was more than crucial. That showed up pretty much when Red Auerbach retired, and set Bill to be the new Celtics coach. The result? Oh, it was pretty hard at the end.

Boston was struggling through a lot of injuries, the players aged and they lost to the upcoming 67′ Sixers who were destined to become a dynasty. Next season, their chances increased when they were leading three games to one but then again, they just fell.

Powered by Russ, the Celtics pushed this series to seven series and surpassed the Sixers and crashed the Lakers again en route to another title. Bill Russell was the leader behind these runs, who as a player coach led the Celtics to two sweet championships.

That is a proof enough of just how good leader he was out there.

10.Ability To Play In Any Era

Bill Russell is one those guys who was capable to play in any era. He was first of all, one of the physically most gifted players in the NBA History. He had nice athleticism, could jump high (former world champion), had higher reach than Kareem, underrated strength.

He was extremely mobile, versatile and quick for a center. Additionally, there wasn’t arguably a more smarter man to play professional basketball than him. He also had an overlooked mental edge, as he psyched and intimated his opponents in many ways.

Russell’s productiveness is more than obvious. He was a dominant defensive player, who excelled on the glass, was a productive offensive player, a guy who made everything around him better and a coaches’ player who never cared about stats.

He’d be just as equally good in any era. He had a lot of tools to work with and he knew to use them smartly. That’s why he’d excel in any decade. Oh, and about his lack of weight. He’d just go to a gym and add some muscle.

A great player could play at any time and he’s one of them.

11.Rebounding

Rebounding is one of the most crucial parts of a basketball game and this is another category where Bill Russell excels in. He’s arguably the greatest rebounder in the NBA History.

He was also the most clutch presence on the glass, who provided ton of boards when you needed him most. Here’s the proof about all of that below.

Regular season averages-22.5 rebounds

—–Post season averages-24.9 rebounds

—–Game Seven averages-29.2 rebounds

————-Finals averages-30.2 rebounds

See what i mean. His performance on the boards keeps getting better and better from regular season to the highest stages and most important moments. He also holds numerous records to prove that.

He ranks second in his career in total boards and average with five rebounding crowns. Not bad. He’s the playoffs all time leader in both total and average with comfortable lead over others. He still has the edge in the Finals History over others too, where he was the best.

Russell for example had a streak of at least 12+ rebounding games with at least 20 boards in the Finals. He holds the biggest totals in a four game series too. He was a remarkable!

12.Quotes On Bill Russell

“There are two types of superstars. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. But there’s another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that’s the type Russell was.”

—Don Nelson on Bill Russell in an interview with Boston Herald

” To Bill, every game-every championship game-was a challenge, a test to his manhood. He took the game so seriously that he threw up in the locker room before almost every game.

“But I tend to look at basketball as a game, not a life-or-death struggle. I don’t need scoring titles or NBA Championships to prove that girls, friends, the beach, freedom-to get emotionally wrapped up in basketball.

“I think Bill knew I felt that way, and I think he both envied and resented my attitude. On the one hand, I think he wished he could learn to take things easier, too; on the other hand, I think he may have felt that with my natural ability and willingness to work hard, my teams could have won an NBA Championship every year if I was as totally committed to victory as he was.

“I wish I had won all those Championships, but I really think I grew as a man in defeat that Russell did in victory.”

——Wilt Chamberlain

I think Russell was the foxiest, smartest, meanest player psychologically that ever played the game. He had a book on everybody. He knew where this guy like to take a shot. He took defense of basketball and turned it into an art form

——-Tom Heinsohn, former team mate

Russell had an attitude and most people would say just playing and winning attitude. That doesn’t really describe at all. He thought he was the best defensive player who played.

He also thought he was the best all-around player to play the game. And he thought that every team he plays on should win every single game.

—-Tom “Satch” Sanders

–Darko Mihajlovski

Welcome back to the “Greatest Ever’ series as we continue with the articles from the NBA History, and this time, i will be talking about the career of Bill Russell.

Bill Russell was arguably the greatest player to ever step foot on a basketball hardwood. If anyone’s greatness shouldn’t be measured solely by statistics, it’s Russell alright.

His real dominance was on the court as most of his peers have nothing but positive words and praise for him, which is rightfully deserved. He did things that aren’t matched, and no one else will duplicate.

His success was beyond amazing, but unfortunately not many understand that.

First of all, he was a phenomenal athlete. He was a track star, and great in the field too. He represented his college in many athletic competitions which proves his natural abilities.

He was an athletic freak, who was one of the most quickest centers ever, he possessed the quickest leap of them all and had a high jump. On top of that, he had long arms which gave him a superb length that he combined with his intelligence.

Speaking of it, he was the most smartest man to put on a jersey number in all sports history. It made him to separate from the others in order to succeed.

Even months before being part of any action in the most competitive basketball competition, Bill spent hours of analyzing the game, places where each player wanted to get his shot off and so on.

It only helped him to establish himself as a superb presence in the post, alerting and swatting shots like no one else has ever done.

He often played mind games, and got his opponents rhythm usually late in the game which made them unable to make a difference as Bill’s team would go on and win the match.

He found a bunch of ways to stop his opponents, rather than using strength. He often got the best of his arch rival Wilt, a man whose overall production decreased when he faced Russell.

Even he was slowed down to games which weren’t to his standards, especially in the second part of their head to head duels.

He never played him with strength. Instead he relied on what he had against him. Intelligence, quickness, skills, instincts and forced him off his favorite positions, contested his attempts etc.

This leads me to another part of this sport in which he excelled, and that was defense. That’s right. He was arguably the top defender in the NBA History. He came in a league and team that had no idea of defense, yet he changed all of that.

He revolutionized defensive concepts and proved to be a superstar with dominating the other side of the court.

He was such a natural force in his own paint, who was the best shot blocker, arguably finest rebounder, most elite presence, excelled in one on one match ups and alerted attempts.

He turned shot blocking into an art form. He built the fundamentals of the blocked shots, and mastered three things for successfully doing it. Those were:perfect timing (quick reactions), position (had good spot) and not fouling the shooter.

Again, he had that vertical jump and long arms to help him. He was also capable to take 3-4 guys on side on the court, then get on the other side, get the rebound and threw outlet pass.

His high IQ helped him as well. He changed the course of a single match without even scoring a point. His defense often created fast brake chances for the Celtics, which had their powerful fast brake as a strong weapon in beating their opponents.

After the play, Bill would threw a perfect outlet to his team mates for easy points or just pass it to Cousy who’d lead everyone to easy buckets. Again, all of that and he didn’t even need to shot.

Critics usually point out his weak career percentage of 44.0% from field as a reason why he was a bad scorer. Wrong. Even though he was never a good scorer in the regular season, it was totally different in the playoffs and finals.

He improved it and even took over in late moments offensively in order to win. Yes, he had no weaknesses at all in the clutch. To illustrate that, he holds the record for the highest shooting percent in Finals History with 70.2% field goal percent.

Yes, he had games with 10/11 shooting for 23 points and so on. Led his team in scoring during the post season and finals as well. He even took over offensively and got over 50%+ FG in some Finals appearances.

He could set great picks that lead to scoring, had a decent post up game that featured a great lefty sky hook, ability to clean from tips in, terrific passing abilities and was the original alley op finisher.

Even when Jerry Lucas was All-Star Game with 25 points, he said that BR helped him to get clean looks with his passing. Even in his 30/40 game, Russell had 13 out of 17 from the line easily. He seemed to have no real weaknesses.

Also his ability to share the rock was pretty much notable for a big man, who’s regarded as one of the best passers of all time. Since Bob Cousy left, he averaged well over five, to nearly six assists in average in an era which had different ways to count dimes.

Because Boston had no real point guard, the ball went to Russ who could deliver it around and spotted nearly everything. He was needed to be a good passer since no one in his team could play well one on one.

He was the biggest winner of any time. He was an eleven time champion, who was 18-0 when facing elimination, 10-0 in all Game 7 of the post season and was consistently among the finest teams in his time.

He was outstanding clutch player as well, who’s underrated in that department.

Here are the stats from Russell’s performances in all of the Game Sevens Of The Playoffs

-19 points, 31 rebounds

-18 points, 32 rebounds

-22 points, 35 rebounds

-19 points, 22 rebounds

-30 points, 40 rebounds

-20 points, 24 rebounds

-15 points, 29 rebounds

-25 points, 32 rebounds

-12 points, 26 rebounds

-6 points, 21 rebounds

Overall average:18.6 points, 29.3 rebounds

Amazing, isn’t it? It sure is, however rarely know that. The aspects in which he made his impact like blocks, steals weren’t even official when he was active.

However, not even they will show the real picture. All, i am saying is that he was a legend and that he’d been an all time great in any era.

He was a fearless competitor, most driven basketball and smartest basketball player who was also the best defender, shot blocker, leader and winner of them all. His greatness shouldn’t be questioned!

–Darko Mihajlovski