BadBaronRudigor

Russell won 11 championships in 13 years, 4 in 5 years post-Cousy. Cousy won zero championships without Russell. Despite playing with HOF C and SG, his team was basically mediocre though he put up impressive numbers. He was a poor defender, an inefficient shooter who shot a lot, but a great passer . . . he wasn't the kind of player you can build a winner around, he was a guy who rode the Russell train; sort of like KC Jones. i'm not saying he wasn't a good player, he was one of history's great playmakers. I am saying people who say that playing with the likes of Cousy, Sharman, and Tommy Heinsohn made it easy for Russell haven't looked closely at those players. They weren't that good a team without Russell (even with HOF center Ed McCauley in Russell's place). I am much more impressed with the trio of Sam Jones, Havlicek, and Bailey Howell that replaced the first three but two of those three weren't enough to hold the Celtics together without Russell. Russell is one of the 3 (maybe 4) legit GOAT candidates and that's what the arguement focused on, not trying to diss Cousy particularly, just that it wasn't the people around Russell, it was Russell making the people around him look like champions.

Oh, and many teams rebuild in a 3-5 year window. Continuing without missing a beat is a different ballgame.

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