How Good Was Bill Russell Actually? 

Rip the to the man with 11 rings

Amen to that

Truly the greatest winner there was. A man we all aspire to be like.

Rip to a basketball legend

Rip legend

During that time there were only 10 teams tho, and on the Celtics there were 8 HOF during that time

Take bill Russell off the team and alot of those guys wouldnt be in the hall of fame let's not front

@@theupdawg3533 with less teams that also meant only the best players get to the league.

The Up Dawg less teams=more quality teams

@@Noahhhhhhhh Basketball recruitment and scouting are not exactly at its finest during the 60's. College players are treated like trash and a lot pro players that time have day jobs. You're badly wrong if you think for one second that every single player in those few teams in that era are the best of the best.

Hes the real goat nobody wants to admit it considering he did it with the celtics

@@deadpool1966 He won a bunch of championships with like 8 hall of fame teammates in a league with about 4 teams of drugged out goofs. Did you ever watch highlights from this era? We could probably play at that time in the NBA. It stinks

@@ShawnValentino Bill Russell won 2 National Championships in college. He didn't play for Kansas or Kentucky or UCLA. He led the University of San Francisco to 2 national championships!! In those days you couldn't play as a freshman so 2 chips in 3 years at a mid major. He also won an olympic gold medal and a state championship in high school. The man is the best winner ever

@@mongoslade277 At that time nobody cared about playing basketball. Watch one of those games from back then. We are probably better athletes than those goofs playing then. And the NBA had about 4 teams in the league and he was surrounded by 5 Hall of Famers in a league with no competition. Imagine Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas winning one playoff series and going to the finals 10 times against a bunch of dweebs. Basketball pre 1970 was a joke.

@@ShawnValentino You make some good points. The game was played differently back then. It's way more athletic today but Elgin Baylor. Wilt. Jerry West. Oscar Robinson. Sam Jones. John Havlicek would have that athleticism today. Their games would carryover to today's game. Bill Russell in the 90's would have a problem playing center. He would've probably been a small forward. In today's game with the small ball he could play center. He could play pick and roll defense and defend the 3

I was just thinking the other day about a bill-wilt motion pic about they're rivalry/friendship but must definitely do justice to both as individuals

Fr though

Seriously. I'd pay to see it in theaters. What am amazing man.

I think you right, its about damn time especially while his still here

Like they would tell the truth🙄 Just another feel good movie, about how whites🇺🇸 Aren’t really that bad...

yesssir old head im fuccing wit it

Yeah, may you tell me about wilt, please? I want to know how did he prepare for games what was his workout routine?

wmden 1 THOSE WERE great games back in the 1960s....it was nothing unusual to see 8 to 9 hall of famers on the court at the same time.....we know when these young folks take pot shots at guys like wilt and bill they have no clue..they were not born..i have asked who is willie mays..sandy koufax....etc..no response..no idea...smile...wmden 1 There is no hand checking????say what????..peace..they just don't know...

RIP wmden1

@@that_dude_tk7327 I have no idea about all of that. They didn't do much up close and personal broadcasting stuff back then. I do know that Wilt could be double teamed and break grips on his shoulder, or take a 200 pounder up with him, on a dunk, and grin about it, among other things.

Cousy, Havlicek, Sam Jones were all great regardless. Sharman probably, too. But many of the others he enhanced their value tremendously.

No doubt sir. Mr Russel was the male alpha lion of all-time.

Wilt averaged 28 and 28 against Bill in all their head-to-head meetings, and lost by a grand total of 9 points combined in all their postseason meetings either in elimination or 7-and-decided games. So, I wouldn't say "Dominated" by any means.

@@tylerhingleton8493 Exactly u give Wilt that Celtics team and Russell would get swept

You hit the right nail on the head so hard, you left a hole big enough to drive a truck through. Russell measured his play by whether it made his whole team do better. Consequently, he won 11 titles and played a big role in lifting 8 other teammates to the Hall of Fame.

What a pity that young people and players do not realize just what we owe to Bill Russell. What we take for granted, he had to fight for. He helped pave a very rocky road that makes our journey much easier. I'm not talking Bball, I'm talking civil rights. He was very big (no pun intended) and instrumental is changing America. As far as I am concerned, his basketball achievements are secondary to what he did for civil rights and the lives of everyone that has and will benefit from his courage.

Amen

sooo kevin durant. Ok

@@minarik01 BR was a defensive phenom durant is all offense

Couldn’t shoot for shit

Yeah and playing against plumbers and carpenters💀

1 year later… do you still feel this way? Or has anything changed (genuinely curious)

@@wanz3611dog if he watches bill russel play dude might be dead already 💀

Look Jordan fanes Big Bill is the goat know dolt about it.Point blank!😅😊🎉

Great and underrated comment! People often miss this.

20,000 women specially blonde women

Wilt walked so Kuzma could run

Lmao

@@MeOwClan1337 lol facts tho

And yet his ass didn’t have any children to take his place smh

That would be OP af

When Wilt played for Philly they were on the same team for the All Star game

imagine them with SHAQ

@@ppface7221 op

On Celtics they’d have 15+ rings

No it does not. The NBA had like 9 teams at the time, the competition was weak, and Bill's stats were not really impressive tbh. Not trying to say he was a horrible player, but he was def overrated as one of the top 10 NBA players of all time.

@@bobbymira8234 you wouldn’t won 1 ring stfu

@@bobbymira8234 11 rings, 5mvps with dpoy's and finals mvp's werent give during his era

@@bobbymira8234 I hope you do something significant for this time period, and 50 years from now, I hope people severely downplay your accomplishments due to you being born earlier than them. I hope they say, Bobby wasn't shit, look at the era he lived in. They had smartphones back then. Their cars were gas powered, look how their electricity was generated, etc, etc.. those people lived in an era where it doesn't really count.. I don't know if you're an idiot in every aspect of life, but you're certainly one when it comes to this subject

@@bobbymira8234 all you dumbasses bark out is excuses

Your high, more skilled nah you mean more lazy, dribbled at the 3 line an shoot

@@deadpool1966 with no under the basket many times its insane

@@deadpool1966 old head

facts

Well said

I mean Rodman was 2 time dpoy winner. Don’t sleep on the worm

@@bobbysbluebooster and Russell is considered the greatest defensive player of all time. Rodman's achievements pale in comparison.

@@bobbysbluebooster Dennis Rodman is one of the all time great defensive players..he always took the toughest assignment and did it well.....what does not get mentioned was his team play...forget the antics the man understood the game..peace..wear your mask...get vaccinated when your time comes....

YEP, just like Ben Wallace did!

Bill never locked down Wilt. Ben never locked down Shaq. Their numbers were slightly worse. They just lost.

S0 Friday isn’t making the other team lose the point of the game?

@@joeyjerome2487 Exactly! People think the sport is boxing or Tennis, you do what it takes for your team to get the "W" that's all that matters...

Bill said it the best, "I cannot stop Wilt but I could slow him down".

Dennis Rodman if u haven't already

Dell curry?

Make a video on jerry west

Do how good was Michael Jordan actually

Make a Jerry Krause video

Overrated. winning in an 8-10 team league. At that time there were other leagues like the ABA that hadnt yet merged with it. Its why no one takes the football titles in 1920s as seriously as those of Superbowl era.

@@vulcanraven9701 NOT a watered down league, like today.

@@vulcanraven9701 Think about it: Since there were only 8-10 teams in his era, wouldn’t that mean that the best of the best would be in the league?

@@thebigchap101 Problem is, that was pre-merger. You had different players in say the ABL or whateevr other programs out there. Basketball was decentralized and some players who were good in college or other leagues hadn't seen the sport as a legit career. Its like when any other league started out: many lacrosse players in college who had pro potential didnt turn it, decentralized sports dilute talent. Its why no one takes "AFL titles" seriously. The modern era began with the creation of Superbowl.

@ New profile Aba wasn’t even formed till after Russel retired

Your are a wise man

Yup. Russell retired not because of his body. He retired because he realized that his smarts declined

@@ciaojay7025 Smarts declined? Come on, players can wear out physically, but their smarts don't decline unless they get dementia or have a stroke. Russell retired because he was done playing in racist Boston - and already won his 11th and most impressive championship.

​@@broadstreet21 shaq was 320 maybe even more than that when he played with the lakers, i dont see wilt breaking backboards, shaq forced the nba to make the backboards stronger. Also bill is pretty trash and so is wilt.

@@WhoAreYou905 Bigger does not always mean stronger. Wilt didn't break backboards, nor did he need to. He was just pure physical power and talent that nobody could match up against.

Russell has the 3rd highest assist average of any center ever.

@@PoliticusRex632how many triple doubles does he have in his career

Not greater than Wilt no way.If Wilt had been on The Celtics team. They would never have lost. I'm not disrespecting Russell, but C'Mon Wilt was more than twice the offensive player as Russel,l and as Great a rebounder and shot blocker. Even a better passer late in his career.

@@vernpascal1531 No doubt. The reason Russell is the G.O.A.T is because he kept Chamberlain from being the GOAT. They played in their prime at the same time. MJ and LeBron are only in the discussion because they recent. Russell has the most championships and Chamberlain is most dominant player in history. End of story.

@@roww10 Big deal about those 11 rings. They played in an era where there was like 8 teams going up against non-basketball players.

And 2 ncaa titles and an olympic gold medal

Bill is a legend but he is nowhere near the top 10 of all time. He was terrible on offense and had 4-5 HOFers in a weaker era with less teams.

@@FaZeAlphaSavma less teams = high caliber players than today

@@josep4259 lol that’s based off skepticism and assumption not stats and facts think of all the “high caliber” players today and put them onto ten teams your trying to tell me the average player here who’s doing this part time apparently has more high caliber players than today sense that logic goes both ways sorry but I don’t believe it

And 8 in a row!

End of conversations.

The don't have footage from most games

Probably a lot considering he played against plumbers as good as today's middle school or high school athletes

@@MrE_ didn't know Wilt was a plumber

Mr.E yea bro. People like wilt, bob petit, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson. Jerry west. Nate Thurmond. All those hall of famers. They plumbers.

@Sipseyhiker ok now that's just a dumb statement. You do realize that humans evolve overtime? Every physical ability record (speed, strength, endurance,etc) has been beaten by modern athletes. To deny that is to deny science and basic knowledge. The truth is, those hall of famers were great for their time. But just because you make the hall of fame, doesn't mean you are automatically the best that an athlete can be.

@Reid Little that is what I said: Rip (rest in peace)

True.

Wilt would be ahead but Russell would be 2nd

@@joestuehmer7967 how is wilt ahead with 2 rings wilt was the best at scoring individual as stats as a single player scoring player he didn't care for winning all he cared was for himself and his stats wilt is overrated lol 2 rings Compared to 11

He’s dead

@@EIite. happens to all of us

Actually, Red changed that answer to Bird in the early 90's!

Well said

hakeem>russell

@@kingt2olase94 frankly no

@MVP Kunai i need someone who can do it all if i had a team i would pick hakeem as my first choice

Is there proof of this? Doesn't sound like Bill

He said...and he meant it for 2 reasons

@@Ac0ustics0ul He said it. With 8 championships in a row no one will ever tough him.

@@senseichess8688 Indeed! Just for my information, what are the reasons you refer to?

@@pmcclaren1 one reason is that bill knew 6 rings is a very long way from 11

Wilt used to run track what are u talking about

@@felixheredia62 Yeah I meant run a fast break meaning dribbling and pushing the ball.

Wilt in his younger days ran the floor like a deer.

@@Mark-sj3xb yeah what I mean by “run a fast break” means that he could lead it by dribbling the ball up the court and passing it. Like leading it similar to how a point guard would. Wilt couldn’t do that. Wilt was very mobile for his size though.

Agree. I wouldn't think twice about it.

Amen

How bout prime shaq?

@@joostwillem8596 Nope. Russell's a much better defender, & he wouldn't have an issue with sacrificing his scoring. Hakeem & Duncan are the other 2 big men on my all-time team. I considered Wilt for the starting 5, but there are too many issues with ego & clutch ability (& I can't see him accepting a bench role)

Same here. It would be Johnson, Jordan, Bird, James, and Russell. With Pop as coach.

Without what ifs, it's pretty clear that any average athlete in today's game is better than any athlete back then. Today's players grew up with three point lines, better dribbling skills, better equipment, greater athletic abilities.

@@MrE_ Yes. That's not hard to comprehend. However, When we compare. We shouldn't say things "LeBron will crush Wilt" we should say "Superstars will make it in every era" why? They will still work hard but can only go to their limits with what's in front of them. If Wilt had the equipment of today he will be bigger and that only add to his greatness. If LeBron was in the 50's 60's he wouldn't have the equipment he has today and nutrition. So we should say oh he will dominate all of them or MJ played plumbers.. It has to be on an even field. So if we are going to judge them. We have to judge them on what was in front of them and not against today's NBA or yesterday's.

@@MarkLaw13 you should also consider the rules of the day. Palming, carrying, traveling, force outs and 2-hand hand checking made for a different game. Not to mention lopsided balls, solid steel rims and uneven courts.

@@PoliticusRex632 yep, every superstar will figure it out in any era.

@@MrE_ What you don't understand is those guys set the stage for these guys. Imagine today's guys starting off and not having anyone to learn from. Lebron, Kobe, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Doc all watched guys and learned from them to take the game higher. So just imagine if Bill could have watched all these great centers, had all the right foods to eat and perfect weight management coaches. It goes two ways. Russell was a pioneer and more importantly dominated his time and that's all he could do...

Played in an era of 12 teams, no 3 point line, one round before playoffs, and no skill.

@@robertjohn8711 Actually there were 8 teams. Great point, the talent was far less diluted. He was matched up with a hall of Famer almost every night.

@@robertjohn8711 Also, no 3 point line makes it harder to score in the paint. And you tell Sam Jones he had no skill. Please.

@@drewsollars2239 guys would still shoot it just wasn't worth it seeing how it was only worth two points and you didn't want a long rebounds teams knew how to capitalize on the fast break, especially if it was against the Celtics you didn't want to to be taking low pct jump shots.

Well to be fair, Wilt played very well against Russell but Bill's team was just better and he was a better leader

He didn't dominate Wilt, ffs. In elimination games Wilt 29.8/28.2/2.3 Russell 11.0/24.6/4.8 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES AVERAGES(CHAMBERLAIN VS RUSSELL) YEAR: POINTS/REBOUNDS/ASSISTS/TS% COMMENTS TP* MPG pts/rbs/ts%(rounded) 1960: Wilt 30.5 / 27.5 / 2.0/ 51.35 (30/20) 60.0 45.5 31/28/51% Russ 20.7 / 27.0 / 2.8/ 45.18 (20/20) 50.5 42.8 21/27/43% 1962: Wilt 33.6 / 26.9 / 2.9/ 51.05 (30/20) 63.4 48.0 34/27/51% Russ 22.0 / 24.4 / 4.3/ 47.60 (20/20) 50.7 47.7 22/24/48% 1964: Wilt 29.2 / 27.6 /2.4/ 50.93 (20/20) 59.2 45.8 FINALS 29/28/51% Russ 11.2 / 25.2 / 5.0/ 41.18 41.4 42.8 11/25/41% 1965: Wilt 30.1 / 31.4 / 3.3/ 57.52 (30/30) 64.8 48.7 30/31/58% Russ 14.1 / 25.3 / 6.7/ 45.86 46.1 48.6 14/25/46% 1966: Wilt 28.0 / 30.2 / 3.0/ 50.03 (20/30) 61.2 48.4 28/30/50% Russ 14.0 / 26.2 / 5.6/ 47.04 45.8 47.8 14/26/47% 1967: Wilt 21.6 / 32.0 / 10.0/ 56.39 63.6 47.8 22/32/56% Russ 11.4 / 23.4 / 6.0 / 43.63 40.8 45.6 11/23/44% Wilt had a Triple Double Series averaging 30 rebounds. He also had 10 blocks per game, unofficially. 1968: Wilt 22.1 / 25.1 / 6.7/ 48.60 (20/20) 53.9 47.9 22/25/49% Russ 13.7 / 23.9 / 4.1/ 47.87 41.7 46.0 14/24/48% 1969: Wilt 11.7 / 25.0 / 3.0/ 47.10 39.7 47.3 FINALS 12/25/47% Russ 9.1 / 21.1 / 5.1/ 43.50 35.3 48.0 09/21/44% * TP = Total Production = PTS + RB +AS

Good points

Well said

Switch out being in the HOF didn’t mean that much back in the day. There were still bad teams but I get your point