People who rank Bill Russell ahead of Olajuwon....

True.

 

10 rings to 0 if Jordan was playing.

 

He played against 6'3 centers while Olajuwan dominated the greatest era of big men in the NBA

 

Really? That's why Russell is better? You have to come better then that.

 

OMG BUT RINGGSSSSS DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

I know this is a troll post, but:

Russell has 0 rings in which Jordan was playing
Olajuwon has 1 ring in which Jordan was playing

As for the overall topic, while I agree Olajuwon is better than Russell, you can't dismiss the championships. He dominated an era that featured the most dominant player of all time (Chamberlain).

 

People who are ignorant about Bill Russell and the competition he played against yet still ready to compare him unfavorably to players they've loved and watched are _______:
A. Trolling for a laugh
B. Morons
C. Blindly Bias
D. All of the above

Guy won 11 titles in the NBA + Olympic Gold + 2 NCAA titles in 16 years and 2 of his NBA titles were as player-coach. Nobody here who has posted so far has a single clue how he did it or who he did it against, or what kind of useful game he had offensively and defensively (and I'm not talking about on a stat sheet). Olajuwon has a case to be talked about with the likes of Russ/Wilt/KAJ/Shaq but if you don't know about Russ why not simply leave him out of such comparisons and acknowledge that you haven't got a clue? I mean, 6-3 centers? lol wtf!?

 

This^.

i think Dream is possibly the most talented/dynamic Center but you can't ignore Russell's rings and accomplishments.

Those who choose to ignore eleven championships should really lay off the pipe.

 

He won NBA title when he was 20 point underdog against Lakers (Wilt, Jerry West.)

 

Bulls on the other hand would become dynasty even without Jordan.

 

I love Bill Russel to death for his contributi

 

Sorry, on iPhone here, accidentally pressed submit.

 

he has 11 genius and that still doesn't mean he is better then hakeem.

 

Props for trying to build your CF cred early, but no need to suck up to the board

 

Nice job supporting your statement.

 

Please some report this post

 

The NBA was barely a league when Russell started dominating. There were only 8 teams when he won his first championship, and the division leaders (they were divisions, not conferences back then) had first round byes. This was true through 1965. So, they won one playoff series, and they were in the finals. Wow, how impressive.

the competition sucked, too. In 1956-57, every team in the Western Division had a losing record. Here's a link for that thrilling season.

He had a super-team for the time, with Cousey, Sam Jones, Havlicek and Tommy Heinsohn, and his main rival, Chaimberlain, was notorious for shrinking in big games.

So, to just throw out "11 CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!" as a reason for his being considered so highly is silly and myopic. He beat the people in front of him, but the "league" was a joke back then.

 

Didn't Bulls dropped just 2 games after Jordan's first retirement in 94' and would probably win it all again, if they weren't robbed by that bogus call on Pippen vs. Knicks? Celtics dropped 14 games when Russell retired. Bulls had no true competition like Bird and Magic had in 80's. LA Lakers 91' - Magic past his prime, no more Kareem, no more Cooper and Worthy was injured. Also Isiah Thomas broke his wrist and I am not sure if Bulls would beat Detroit that year, if he hadn't. 92' Portland? 93' Phoenix? not worth mentioning.

In 95' Bulls lost, because lack of rebounding and interior defense. Jordan wasn't rusty, but he wasn't the same player on defensive end as he was 85-93'.

They add Dennis Rodman next year who is by far the best rebounder at least in modern era and someone who provide interior defense. That's why they went on another three peat.