That was indeed a great post. He was dishing out ownage left and right. I thought this was an interesting point All the good players from that era didnt come out the game much. Here is the top 15 in career minutes per game Code: [B]1. Wilt Chamberlain* 45.80 2. Bill Russell* 42.29[/B] 3. Oscar Robertson* 42.20 [COLOR=Blue]4. Allen Iverson 41.44 5. LeBron James 40.56[/COLOR] 6. Elgin Baylor* 40.03 7. Jerry West* 39.24 8. Jerry Lucas* 38.76 9. Bob Pettit* 38.75 10. Latrell Sprewell 38.63 11. Dave Cowens* 38.60 12. Paul Arizin* 38.42 13. Larry Bird* 38.40 14. Elvin Hayes* 38.37 15. Michael Jordan* 38.26 Wilt and Russell are 1-2 and those indeed are ridiculous minutes per game. What makes Iverson and Lebron so special that they're in the top 5 all time? Its cuz they're great players and way better than the replacements on their teams. Cant explain Latrell Sprewell being up there, though. Wilt played into the 70's against better increasingly improving competition until age 37 and was still playing 40+ minutes and leading in rebounds. Maybe him and Russell were indeed built better. Maybe it is one of those odd things how baseball pitchers in the 60's and back would pitch every inning but pitchers now cant go 3 short starts without breaking down. I'm tired and dont feel like looking at rebound rates and percentage and all that. I think Hakeem and Shaq could average more minutes then but I dont necessarily think they could average those SAME minutes. That might be the 1 legit area that Wilt and Russell can claim supremacy.
One last point hopefully. I think Bill Russell's defense is really being underappreciated for how it changed the game. If you hear players from that era talk about the league before and after russell, they say that defense was non existent. I can understand if you argue that a great a defensive player may not impact the game like a great offensive player. but when you consider that the Celtics went from not having a championship, to being a dynasty, you have to accept that his defense was just as dominant as other player's offense. he changed the game. that alone is a defense (no pun intended) for his case for all time greatest.
It is hard to compare eras, and Russel was great in his...as was Chamberlin but neither would have put up those gaudy numbers in the modern game. Too many other ATHLETES on the floor. DD
For the record, teams were averaging between 94.4 and 106 ppg the year before Russell arrived, and by Russell's last season they were between 104.7 and 118.9 ppg. Nobody doubts that Bill Russell was a tremendous defensive player, but to claim that his defense changed the game of basketball itself or that it brought about an era of defense in the NBA would be inaccurate, by all accounts. If anything, the NBA became more offensive minded in the 60s and that offensive surge lasted all the way through the mid-90s, when teams like the Rockets began to define the way to win with defensive intensity instead of offensive brilliance.
