Bravo Mr. Finn. Well said. To Dennis2112... The Celtics were the Clippers until Russell came around. Okay not that bad but they had six years of bowing out of the playoffs in the early rounds. But then they drafted Russell in the 1956 Draft and Boston became the best team in the league virtually overnight. And Sam I respect your opinion but I just have to disagree. Bill Russell's legacy: Defense wins championships. Before Bill Russell brought his marvelous defensive and shot blocking skills to basketball, the game focused primarily on offense. But Russell initiated a defensive mentality that is still a major part of the best teams.. Without a doubt, in my mind, Russell was the greatest defensive center in the history of basketball. Russell instantly revolutionized the game. His ability to block shots or snare rebounds and then make quick outlet passes to Bob Cousy triggered the Celtics' fast break and turned Boston into an unstoppable force. They finished that season with a league-best 44-28 record. They advanced through the early rounds to defeat the St. Louis Hawks in the 1957 NBA Finals. In his first showdown against Wilt, Russell grabbed an amazing 35 rebounds and Boston won 115-106. He won the MVP 5 times (1958,1961-63, 1965). He once had 51 rebounds in a game against Syracuse in 1960, He averaged 22.5 rebounds a game not for 1 season but for his career. They didn’t keep stats on blocks back then but I can assure he would have ranked up at the top there too. The only time he lost a championship to Wilt was when he was 35 and even then it went 7 games and he lost 108-106 in the final.. Your right he didn’t single handedly win all those Championships but neither did MJ or Wilt or Hakeem. I do have to say I think the way Hakeem manhandled Robinson, Ewing and Shaq those 2 championship years was a thing of beauty. But it doesn’t quite matchup ------------------
Sorry guys but Hakeem is the best center of all time as it stands. Russell was a very good defensive player, but also was a giant among the players of his era; furthermore, he was an average offensive player at best. Yes, he was a big part in winning 10 championships, but face it, so was John Havilcek, Bob Cousy, etc. Cousy was brilliant is setting up the offense and turning those outlets from Russell into points. Looking at Hakeem, he was a great offensive and defensive center who could dominate at both ends of the floor, which Russell could not do or did not. No matter how you look at it, the Dream is the best and I feel privileged to have watched him play. ------------------
Freak- Basically what I am saying is we, as Rocket fans, all are prejudiced to Dream. Hell listen to a lot of people on this board & Francis is the greatest PG since Magic (he may be but we are all for him because he is a Rocket). Wait to see how he is remembered around the league, not just by Rocket fans. I would have Dream in my top 5 centers but I would have him behind both Wilt & Russell, but in the same class as Kareem. My reason is simple all 4 were winners. But Russell won alot of championships and was the best player on those championship teams & is regarded as a great defensive player, Wilt was physiclly dominant and forced the rules to be changed with his size, and Kareem had a dominant move in the hook shot which was unstoppable and was also part of a few championships himself. I don't see Dream changing any rules or having a ring for each finger, but he did have a deadly move as well and was as good defensively as all (I know Russell was great defensively but I can't imagine Russell being that much better than Dream). My point is basically we can't be objective fans when comparing Dream vs other centers. Wait and see how other fans, players and coaches reagrd him in a few years. ------------------
It's tough to argue against a man that scored 100 points and 10,000 women, but I have to go with Dream. Hakeem was just too quick for anyone to handle and he had just the right amount of size to bang with the real big boys(Shaq '95). Unbeatable. Also, if you think that competition was weaker/smaller for Chamberlain and Russell, just imagine what they could have done with the fitness equipment, doctors, and trainers that we have available today. In a word, scary... but still nowhere near as intimidating as Hakeem Olajuwon circa 1993. ------------------ WE WILL WATCH THEM FALL... Next year
When Wilt and Russell were around the game had not evolved completely and many rules had to be changed. Now the game is much more complete and I don't think they can change the rules for one man anymore. Michael Jordan is considered by many to be best player ever and I don't remember him changing any rules. If Hakeem were around back then there would have been some rules created to make the game more fair for those that simply couldn't stop the Dream. It is also true that we cannot compare two athletes in two different times because we never know how they would have faired against each other, although I personally believe that Hakeem would have destroyed the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and anything else that stood in his way. ------------------
Antisonic - scored 100 points and 10,000 women. Lol! Guys, TheFreak summed up my argument better than I could myself. To me, to be "the best ever" you need to dominate on BOTH ends of the floor. Russell, from every thing I've heard, was just AWESOME defensively. But he was not an exceptional offensive force. And yes, he was a great rebounder. But hasn't anyone noticed that every rebounding record was set between the years between 1955 and 1970 (or so)? Every year 4 or 5 guys would average 18 or 19 boards a game. Not just Russell and Chamberlain - we're talking Maurice Stokes and (6'5") Elgin Baylor here. Not saying these guys weren't good rebounders - just that rebounding in the 60s was a little like hitting home runs in the 90s. Another thing that bothers me about Russell - he never got better. Dream was consistantly working on his game, adding new moves, developing range on his shot, becoming a more disciplined defender, learning to pass better, etc. As far as I can tell, the Russell you saw in his 1st season was the same one you saw in his last season. Never learned to shoot a good percentage from the floor (lack of a go-to move?) or shoot a free throw (funny how Wilt and Shaq take heat for this, but not Russell). Add all this to the fact that he had the best supporting cast in NBA history (by far!) and you can see where I would rate Dream higher. What Russell was, was the best player on the best team ever. BTW, Yogi Berra won more rings than any other player in baseball history. ------------------
They didn't have a shot clock back in those days, so fewer shots were taken. This makes those rebounding records even more impressive. Nowadays they come down and jack up shots as soon as they get past mid-court. FG% are at an all-time low in the NBA, this means more rebounding oppurtunities. But still those records stand. ------------------ "Get up, stand up. Stand up for your right"-Bob Marley
Wrong, Bob. The 24 second shot clock was instituted in 1954. Russell came into the league in 1956. ------------------
Wasn't Bill Russell only like 6-8 or 6-9? If he played in Hakeem's era, chances are his numbers would be closer to AC Green's than Hakeem's. Not saying Russell wasn't good, but nobody can tell me Hakeem would not have been just as dominant, probably more, as Russell if he played in the same era. ------------------
Oakdogg- If you judge by size then CB was a chubby SG who couldn't hit a 3 Plus if Russell played today he would have the benefits of better nutritional supplements, weight training, etc. Plus if Dream was in Russell's era he probably never would have played in the NBA, simply because (I don't beliueve) basketball was being played in Dream's homeland and therefore Dream would have been the next Pele. It's impossible to put players in different eras. ------------------
4Chuckie, for a guy who is known for his shotblocking and defense, height does matter at the position where size is most important. Bill Russell would probably have been better than AC Green, but he would not have gone down as one of the best centers in history, especially not "the greatest." ------------------
