Originally Posted by BadBaronRudigor

Probably the best post in the thread . . . let's see if we can't match it to make the case that Bill Russell is the best ever.

These are a few basic aspects of a player's game in basketball:

REBOUNDING: Of all the raw stats (pts,reb,ast,bl,st,to,pf) this is the one that correlates most strongly with winning. Wilt is the greatest statmonger in history, he'd be easily tops in points too if he hadn't changed his style to try to imitate Russell and the only comparable rebounder in NBA history. Russell averaged 22.45 rpg for his career; the third greatest rebounder in NBA history averaged 16.22. To compare, that would be as if the third greatest scorer in NBA history averaged only 21.76ppg, a ridiculously low number. This is one of the greatest areas of dominance over even other HOF players (other than Wilt) ever recorded.

DEFENSE: Russell is generally regarded as the greatest defensive player ever. Period.

CLUTCH/PLAYOFF PLAY: Russell is the greatest winner in NBA history. Compared to Michael Jordan, for example, Russell won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons while Jordan won only 6 in 15 NBA seasons, a clutch/playoff winning percentage over twice as great. He won even though throughout his career he was matched against Wilt Chamberlain, the most statistically dominant player ever. He won with good but not great supporting players early (the Cousy/Sharman/Ramsey trio played with HOF center Ed McCauley for 4 years before McCauley and a top pick were traded for Russell coming in 2nd,3rd,3rd,and 2nd out of a 4 team Eastern conference ... practically a textbook case of mediocrity). He won with great supporting players facing great opposing teams; not just the 3 HOF frontline of St. Louis and the West/Baylor Lakers but the 76 teams featuring Wilt, Luke Walker, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, Hal Greer, and Wali Jones . . . a collection of supporting talent for Wilt equal or better than the great Howell, Sanders, Havlicek, Sam Jones and KC Jones Celtics. Clutch play comes down to winning . . . Russell won . . . more than anyone . . . and it's not even close.

SHOTBLOCKING: By all contemporary accounts, Russell was probably the greatest shotblocker to ever play the game. Contemporaries estimate that he averaged 6-8 blocks a game. Former All-Pro/HOF center Neil Johnston was so supposedly so intimidated by him that he gave up basketball, ending his career before he turned 30. And shotblocking allows everyone else on the floor to play much tighter defense so rather than just shutting down one player, it helps every player on the team.

PASSING: Russell, while not a guard who started with the ball in his hands, was a great high post passing center. In an era where assists were 20% harder to get than modern ball, he averaged 4.3 assists for his career. What is more, he got them without being a featured scorer in the offense, just getting the ball as it moved around and finding cutters or open jump shooters with his outstanding court awareness. Additionally, he had two other rare skills. He was one of the great outlet passers to ever play, starting the famous Celtic fast break after rebounds, a skill that isn't measured in assists (at least under then existing rules). And, his shotblocking was so skilled, he not only blocked shots, he would redirect them to teammates like a pass thus creating even more possessions than shotblocking alone would account for.

SCORING: This is the one and only area where people say Russell doesn't compete with the other GOAT candidates like MJ, Wilt, and Kareem. But even here, Russell was not a weak point that you could ignore like Ben Wallace. Russell averaged over 15 ppg for his career, and he scored primarily from the high post, forcing the other team to have their center a bit further away from the basket than a low post scorer would.

INTANGIBLES: Finally, Russell compares only to Kareem among the other GOAT candidates in intangibles. He was always a team leader, bringing out the best in his teammates and leading by example . . . not just on the court but in civil rights (his protest of a racist restaurent caused Boston to stop playing exhibitions in the deep South). Compare to Wilt, who was solely concerned with scoring with his 10,000 (by his own estimate) girlfriends, or Jordan, Mr. Corporate America with Air Jordans produced by child labor in Indonesia. In terms of on the court impact, Russell was an immediate winner from his first year in the league, taking a formerly mediocre Celtic team to a title right away and keeping them there for his whole career. Russell didn't take several years of individual great statistical accomplishments for his team to start winning championships like Wilt and Jordan; nor was he ever considered the second best player on any of his 11 titles like Kareem was on the majority of his. Nor did Russell take years off to pursue ego trip hobbies like professional baseball leaving his team in disarray or refer to his teammates as his "supporting cast." Finally, Russell was so respected, he did something none of the other GOAT candidates ever did; he was asked to coach as well as play and he did so well enough to win 2 more NBA championships.

So, Russell was not a great scorer, but he was a dominant rebounder, shotblocker, and the greatest defensive player, leader, and winner in NBA history by a large margin. If it was just about individual stats, the GOAT would be Wilt, easily. But, the point of basketball isn't to score a lot of points, it is to score more points than your opponents enough times and in key situations to win games and championships. Bill Russell did this better than anyone in NBA history, easily. HE is the GOAT.