You're going overboard now. Bill wasn't half the offensive players those guys were so let's not starting creating myths saying you would have to put 3 out of the 5 best centers off all-time together to equal one Bill Russell.
Better NBA Career: Bill Russell or Michael Jordan
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You're going overboard now. Bill wasn't half the offensive players those guys were so let's not starting creating myths saying you would have to put 3 out of the 5 best centers off all-time together to equal one Bill Russell.
You're kidding right??
For his last 3 years this is what Bill averaged in the regular season:
1966 - 13ppg / 21 rpg / 5.8 assists
1967 - 12.5 ppg / 18.5 rpg / 4.6 assists
1968 - 9.9 ppg / 19.3 rpg / 4.9 assists
Also lets not forget that at the time they didn't count blocks. However the newspapers would record blocks when reporting games and Russell would regularly block 15 shots per game and more.
The OP indicated Jordan as having the highest points in NBA history. That is not correct.
Bill Russell
NBA draft 1956 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
1956–1969 Boston Celtics
11× NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966, 1968–1969) *Most in NBA History
5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961–1963, 1965)
12× NBA All-Star (1958–1969)
3× All-NBA First Team (1959, 1963, 1965)
8× All-NBA Second Team (1958, 1960–1962, 1964, 1966–1968)
1× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969) *First Year of All-Defensive Team
4× NBA rebounding champion (1958–1959, 1964–1965)
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
Points 14,522 (15.1 ppg)
Rebounds 21,620 (22.5 rpg)
Assists 4,100 (4.3 apg)
Hall of Famers played with - 12 (Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Tom Sanders, John Havlicek, Frank Ramsey, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Bailey Howell, Clyde Lovellette, Andy Phillip, Arnie Risen)
Michael Jordan
NBA draft 1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
1984–1993, 1995–1998 Chicago Bulls
2001–2003 Washington Wizards
6× NBA champion (1991–1993, 1996–1998)
6× NBA Finals MVP (1991–1993, 1996–1998) *Most in NBA History
5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1988, 1991–1992, 1996, 1998)
14× NBA All-Star (1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002–2003)
10× All-NBA First Team (1987–1993, 1996–1998)
1× All-NBA Second Team (1985)
1× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1988–1993, 1996–1998) *Tied for most in NBA History
10× NBA scoring champion (1987–1993, 1996–1998) *Most in NBA History
3× NBA steals champion (1988, 1990, 1993)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1985)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1985)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Points 32,292 (30.1 ppg) *Highest in NBA History
Rebounds 6,672 (6.2 rpg)
Assists 5,633 (5.3 apg)
Hall of Famers played with - 3 (Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Robert Parish)
I'll let the man speak for himself. Where's the failure?
By the way, didn't Phil Jackson say he would take Russell over Jordan in his mythological team?
By the way, didn't Phil Jackson say he would take Russell over Jordan in his mythological team?
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Fuzzy_McNut
Banned
Shaq did play in russel era his name was known as wilt.
The fact you have more nba teams now makes it easier cuz competition is spread out unlike in russel days you had the best of the best condensed into fewer teams
Russell.
with the challenges on and off the court?
And Mr. Russell was a winning COACH.
with the challenges on and off the court?
And Mr. Russell was a winning COACH.
11 > 6
Buuuut...
The talent on Russell's teams >>>> The talent on Jordan's teams.
Lebron didn't guarantee multiple chips in Miami because his team was reasonably talented, he guaranteed them because they were extremely talented.
I read once that Russell never played with less than 5 All-Stars. If Michael Jordan played with LEGENDS outside of Pippen, does he "only" have six?
Shit gotta be kept in context.
This is no to say that Russell wasn't great...
...but winning 11 championships suggest that your team is too talented for the competition.
The game was nowhere as near as popular, and ultimately wasn't pulling from as large a pool of talent as it was during Jordan's day.
Buuuut...
The talent on Russell's teams >>>> The talent on Jordan's teams.
Lebron didn't guarantee multiple chips in Miami because his team was reasonably talented, he guaranteed them because they were extremely talented.
I read once that Russell never played with less than 5 All-Stars. If Michael Jordan played with LEGENDS outside of Pippen, does he "only" have six?
Shit gotta be kept in context.
This is no to say that Russell wasn't great...
...but winning 11 championships suggest that your team is too talented for the competition.
The game was nowhere as near as popular, and ultimately wasn't pulling from as large a pool of talent as it was during Jordan's day.
You ever play in some chuck taylors???
yeah... those dudes shouldn't even be able to walk right now.
minus whale have been playing in flip flops
He's talking bout Point AVERAGE.
Not Points total..
Points total is not indicative of how great of a scoring u are.. especially when youre talking about Jordan.. a man who missed damn near 6 total seasons throughout is playing career (86, 94, 95, 99, 00, 01)
this is the generation of "most total"...
I remember when "highest average" was WAY more important and mentioned.
People are not being honest in the replies. Russell wins best career easily but that era was like MLB in the 50s. Just like you just started having black players in MLB in the 50s, black players emerged in the NBA during the 60s. 10 years before, you didn't have ONE black player in the NBA. And in the 60s, the league was still white by majority. Any person claiming that was the most competitive time in NBA history is a CAC or just being overzealous regarding what is considered "competitive".
Russell wins this argument. He's also one of the greatest players of all-time. However, he certainly didn't play in the most competitive era. That's silly.
During his run of titles Russell even believed this in regards to quotes:" At that time, he believed they were limited by an unofficial league quota of four black players per team."
dunks were banned in college only from 67-76 because of Kareem's dominance which made Walton's performance in the title game more spectacular because he wasnt allowed to dunk.
How can anyone have a better career than Lord of the Rings?
Oakland's Bill Russell is a category all his own... you can come to other greats for advice on how to deal with losing and yada, yada... Russell has no idea wtf you're talking about. He might break you off a medal or ring or something so he can be on his way. He dominated his time in a way no one else has.
AND he was dealing with straight racist ass cacs... not this sly shit that goes on today.
Fuck Boston
Oakland's Bill Russell is a category all his own... you can come to other greats for advice on how to deal with losing and yada, yada... Russell has no idea wtf you're talking about. He might break you off a medal or ring or something so he can be on his way. He dominated his time in a way no one else has.
AND he was dealing with straight racist ass cacs... not this sly shit that goes on today.
Fuck Boston
Wes Unseld averaged pretty much the same numbers minus a couple of assists in 1969...as a rookie
Well, he WAS right... I did say he only averaged 12 points...
and nothin 4 nothin.. dont get too "Ga Ga" over the rebounding numbers of yesteryear.
the rebounds back then were fudged... peep the rebound percentage.... that shows u a more accurate statistic when dealing w/ era comparisons.
shot percentage was much lower back then and the pace was much faster.. teams used to get 80-100 rebounds a game on the regular.. oppose to 40-50 now...
rebound % tell the percentage of rebounds a player gets out of the total rebounds available.
russells/chaberlains (20%/21%) rebound percentage career wise are close to about 12-13 rebounds a game in this era...
the man who had the greatest rebound % of all time was Dennis rodman.. In the height of rodmans career, he averaged 30% of the available rebounds and a 23.4% rebound percentage for his career..
his prime rebounding years were from 1992 to 1998 and his rebound % through those 7 years was 26%.
with all that being said... RUSSELL HAD THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN TEAM SPORTS HISTORY....
Russell has been cheated out of the normal course of scaling the mountain of athletic achievement. How you gonna win a title 17 out of 20 tries?
. I almost feel bad for him.... losing is a part of life.... Bill Russell be watching shit and just doesn't get it. Mofo like a droid trying to understand what it means to be human. Russell probably pulls people to the side like "i've been trying to dedaces to understand the human condition related to failure 
"
Russell has been cheated out of the normal course of scaling the mountain of athletic achievement. How you gonna win a title 17 out of 20 tries?
There is a tiny group of people who can say they ever beat Russell. Those cats were
. Dude won it all 85% of his life in sports
Jordan does have the highest points per game in NBA history.
Y'all know damn well that the NBA has legally changed the laws of arithmetic!
6 > 11
Bill Russell barely knows defeat... he can't relate to all that struggling to overcome other teams and shit... total domination. Taking virtually no L's
AND he wasn't taking any shit from cacs... even though republicans bought sneakers too.
Maybe todays NBA fans can't count but I can! Six ain't never beat eleven. No one will ever top Russell's 11 rings.
Enough said
That's common knowledge.
Did they name it the Michael Jordan award? No.
They named it after the greatest champion of all time.
Just cause Mike received his before they renamed it doesn't mean anything.
Lmaooooo @ this YMCA champion
Bill
...but you do!So, who had the better "career" Bill Russell or Michael Jordan?
It's a simple question.
I will help you out. Did Bill Russell have a better basketball "career" or did Michael Jordan have a better basketball "career"?
I don't think the OP could ask it any plainer.
Yeah, they need to be closed down if people are going to come in and weigh in without fully understanding the question.
Let me put in perspective: Bill Russell was the Ray Lewis of the Celtics when it came to defense. Would you win if Bill Russell was the Trent Dilfer of the Celtics?
That make sense for you, now?
I used to think a better offense beats a better defense, but fellas we headin' into a new era and I can't bank on that anymore!
Man, and it's "Boom close the thread", is what it is!
This and this and this!
You ever play in some chuck taylors???
yeah... those dudes shouldn't even be able to walk right now.
Hey, don't hold back! Tell them how you really feel!How can anyone have a better career than Lord of the Rings?
Oakland's Bill Russell is a category all his own... you can come to other greats for advice on how to deal with losing and yada, yada... Russell has no idea wtf you're talking about. He might break you off a medal or ring or something so he can be on his way. He dominated his time in a way no one else has.
AND he was dealing with straight racist ass cacs... not this sly shit that goes on today.
Fuck Boston
Russell has been cheated out of the normal course of scaling the mountain of athletic achievement. How you gonna win a title 17 out of 20 tries?
I...can't......breathe!!!
Bill Russell played at a time when most league players had part jobs...Jordan had much tougher competition...So ill so say Jordan
Bill Russell played at a time when most league players had part jobs...Jordan had much tougher competition...So ill so say Jordan
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